The Canadian Side of Country

Good afternoon Pals....I wanted to stop over here, share last week's venture into Canada with you and thank Paul McKay for his help....I don't know if he reads here or not...

My daughter and her husband gave both sets of parents a gift as a thank you for giving them the Perfect wedding (within budget of course). Last week Ron and I used our gift as we traveled to Canada to a concert at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton. It has been a number of years since I had been to a concert, I think the last one was at Blue Cross Arena here in Rochester a few years back....not to mention I haven't traveled in Canada in a long time and most of the travels that were done occurred in the Kingston, Brockport, Montreal area. Now, I didn't do any research on how to get there; my daughter had printed out directions to the QEW and Paul was kind enough to send directions once on the QEW right to the front door of the Coliseum. Life is perfect.

This was a country concert, which featured Alan Jackson and also Brooks and Dunn. Now I am not a HUGE country fan, I do enjoy some artists and I have even been known to kick up my heels, country swing or line dance a time or two. I don't do the cowboy hat or pointed toe snake boots....but...oh heck, I might as well admit it....back when I had longer legs and smaller jeans, I could cut a rug (is that the correct verbiage??) That's right, I do love to dance; Ron....now he loves country music, but he is not a dancer at all....nor is he a singer....he prefers to observe and listen...which is why I always do the driving...

We left here early enough so we could stop and have a nice dinner before the concert....(I really wanted to go somewhere other than Tim Hortons) and Paul was kind enough to give me a list of restaurants....So we headed out about 3:30; the wait at customs was only about forty minutes, which I didn't think was bad for a Wednesday...it was a lovely drive; and we were making very good time: When we passed Welland, I tooted the horn and gave Terry a wave....I was even able to keep my speed within the limit...that is until the signage or lack thereof, confused the dickens out of both of us....

For a while I wasn't sure what the speed limit was, I had completely forgotten about the conversion, but I was certain we were headed north...until we got onto the 403.....I think we were about thirty miles from Toronto when I raised my hands and hollered "Help me Lord", I think we missed main street, Hamilton.....Actually, I missed the exit three times, no wait, I actually never did find the main street exit, I finally just turned down some street and in my exasperation, looked at Ron and said roll your window down and ask that cowboy in that big ole Ford Pick up truck where Copps is...and wouldn't ya know it....that cowboy talked with the same accent as Ron as he pointed and said...right ov'r yonder.....

By this time, it's 6:30 and obviously there is no time for a nice quiet dinner...we still had to find a place to park....Yup, here we are trying to find parking....not daring to go other than in a complete circle, so we don't get lost again....and eventually we find a spot.....$9.00 and we asked the guy what the exchange was...Canadian versus American dollar and sure enough...he said it was equal. I mean seriously, did I really think the parking attendant was going to concern himself over the exchange rate. I am not one to wrangle over a buck or two, so I just shot him a big ole smile and said Jesus loves you !!

Ok, Blue Cross Arena here in Rochester seats around 7000......Copps Coliseum seats 19,000.....the place is HUGE and I'm expecting Billy Graham to step out onto the podium at any minute....that is what it felt like....it is huge and of course our seats were in the rafters....because no one in their right mind would pay for floor seating...I grabbed a piece of pizza and Ron wanted to try a Bulldog...LOL !! we shared a pepsi and plunked down into our seats. When Brooks and Dunn did their performance of "I Believe", and Alan Jackson sang "Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning"...the crowd was silenced and many heads were bowed.....It was a wonderful evening, our Canadian neighbors are the most gracious and friendly and the crowd was spectacular.

We left the coliseum at 11:30, got 15 miles from Brantford and realized we were going the wrong way....Ron looked at me and said, ya know, make sure you thank Paul because he really did give us accurate directions, we just aren't capable of reading the signs....I moved into the passenger seat, He jumped in the drivers seat, turned the car around; we found the closest Tim Horton's, grabbed a sourdough and a cafe mocha and headed for home.....