A trip to Canada

A few months ago Recapture Metals, the company I work for, was bought out by a large public company called Neo Materials. Our new owners want us to switch to a new accounting program called Accpac. They wanted me to travel to Canada to meet all the people and learn this new accounting program, I said, "only if I can take Kenny with me". So, we started the process of getting our passports and making travel plans. We had to leave Stetson home, which was hard for me because the longest I have left him with anyone is two days. But, I decided it would probably be good for both us, plus I have awesome in-laws who were willing to take care of him, so I knew he was in good hands. As expected, he handled it a lot better than me and didn't really get homesick at all. When we would call home, he didn't even want to talk to us on the phone - now that was hard! The trip was a lot of fun though, and it was great to get to spend some time with Kenny.

I got out our big suitcase so I could start packing, and set it on the bed. After awhile things got quiet, and I knew Stetson was up to something, so I went looking for him. It probably would have taken me longer to find him, but he made the mistake of messing his pants while he was hiding, and my great sence of smell led me right to him - inside the suitcase! Yes, I did have the thought, "hey, I could just pack him in my suitcase and take him with me!" But then I repented, took a picture of my handsome stowaway, and then got rid of that smell!

So, on Valentine's Day Kenny and I headed for Grand Junction, leaving Stetson behind with Grandma and Grandpa Black. We stayed the night in a hotel and flew to Toronto the next day. Everything went fairly smoothly until we picked up our luggage. There were tons of people in the baggage claim area. You couldn't leave the area until you gave a man your customs card, but the line to through split off in several directions, and no one knew if they were in line or not. We thought we were in line, but after standing there forever, we wondered if our line was ever going to move. Finally it did, and we got out of there. Then, at the rental car place, all they had that met our reservation was a van, so the guy proceeded to try to get us to upgrade. We finally agreed as he said the difference in price was very small, but when he handed us the receipt to sign - it was double. So we ended up with a silver van, at least we had plenty of room!

We drove to Peterborough where we met my boss, Mark Tindale, and his wife and daughter for dinner at a place called Montana's. It was very good. Canada is much like the U.S., except that everything is metric, and that was hard to get used to. It was cool to see speed limit signs that said 120 though! They didn't have very much snow, which is about as unusual as how much snow we have had here! Plus, they said it has been very warm this winter - which was definatly a plus for me!

The next day I went in to the Recapture Metals plant in Peterborough. We got a tour of the plant, and got to meet lots of people that I have only talked to on the phone. Alastair, the accountant there, took Kenny and I out to dinner that night. I spent the next day at the Peterborough office, learning the new accounting system and helping them set it up there. That evening Kenny and I drove back to Toronto. We stayed at a very nice Hilton hotel - on the 29th floor! It was so cool to look out the window at the huge city. I tried to take some pictures, but they didn't turn out:(


The next day I went in to the Neo office, where I was able to meet everyone, learn more about Accpac, and start working toward setting our system up. That night Michael Doolan, the CFO of Neo, took us out to dinner. I guess it was an Italian restaurant, but I didn't recognize anything on the menu! I ended up ordering something similar to a pork chop, and it was pretty good. I spent the next day at the Neo office as well, and they had a welcome lunch for me. It was pretty cool to be the "guest of honor", and the food was really good too. All of the people at Neo were very nice and hospitable. I learned a lot while I was there, and gained an appreciation for where I live. It is nice to visit the city, but I am so glad I don't live there! Most of the Neo employees live in the suburbs of Toronto, and so have quite a commute to work. The problem is that if they drive their own car, they have to pay $30 per day to park, otherwise they have to ride the train, subway, or get a taxi, and that is not cheap either. People who live in the city must be in really good shape, because they have to do a lot of walking.

Friday night Kenny and I went to the CN tower. You can ride an elevator to a lookout point that is over 100 stories high! It was pretty cool, and once again, my pictures didn't turn out - but it was a lot of fun!


Saturday was our free day, so we went to the Toronto temple and did a session there, then traveled to Niagra Falls. I was VERY unprepared, and just about froze to death. But I did purchase a 'tuk' (sorry, not sure on the spelling - but that is what they call beanie hats in Canada) and that kept my head and ears warm. The falls were beautiful, even in the winter. As we walked along the edge, we could feel the spray from the water. As beautiful as it was, I would really like to go back in the summer.



Sunday morning we woke up bright and early and headed home. Two of our flights were delayed due to the weather conditions, so we got in a little later than we had planned. Then, we sat there at the baggage claim, waiting for our luggage, and it never came! They told us it was on the next flight, so we stuck around and did some shopping and ate dinner. Again we waited for our luggage, and it never came! They were a little short staffed, and nobody really wanted to help us. Finally Kenny went to knock on a door to the back that was behind the counter, and there was our luggage! We will never know what happened, I was just happy to have our luggage an be on our way home. Again the weather slowed us down as the roads were pretty bad from Moab to Blanding. This was one of the airplanes we rode home in. We had to take this picture for Stetson because he LOVES airplanes!

I was so excited to see my little Stet-man again! I can't believe how much I missed him! He was happy to see us too, though I don't think he missed us quite as much. Thanks so much to Grandma and Grandpa and everyone else who helped out with things while we were away.