Episode 20: December 2006

The highlights of the month include:
• Dogsledding near Banff in Canada
• Christmas “Iron Chef”
• Mama Borg arrives in North America
• Sightseeing in Toronto

When we ended November, Neal was still in Canada on a business trip to Edmonton and Calgary. Before Neal traveled to Canada, we decided it would be a great opportunity to spend some time in the Calgary area. So, we booked a flight for me to come to Calgary and spend the weekend with Neal there. After some initial traveling problems – delays due to the first signs of winter (snow and ice) in Midland, I arrived in Calgary on Friday, the first day of December. That night, we walked around the city, had some dinner, and saw a local production of the musical, Aladdin. This version of Aladdin was a little different from the usual ones. It was still a musical, but the plot, characters, and dialogue were spiced up to make it a more family-friendly show. The real hoot was that the genie character was played by Bret “The Hitman” Hart. For anyone who does not recognize that name, Neal provided the following explanation: “Bret Hart used to be a star in the fake wrestling series when I was growing up. I hardly remembered the guy and was really shocked to see him on a stage acting (and occasionally singing) for a crowd. It was surreal.”

The next day, after a quick trip up the Calgary Tower to get an aerial view of the city and surrounding mountains, we headed off to see a different part of the state of Alberta. Calgary is located very close to the Canadian Rocky Mountains and some popular ski destinations, including Banff. We drove toward the Banff area and booked a hotel in the nearby town of Canmore. After arriving in Canmore, we drove to a winter adventure that we had booked while still in Calgary: a two-hour dogsledding tour. Prior to starting the trip to Canada, we had anticipated spending some time in the mountains and packed our cold weather gear accordingly. Smart thing, given the low temperatures!

Our tour started with a short drive into the mountains where our dogs were waiting. When we arrived, the dogs were quietly resting, but as soon as they saw us, they started to bark, yelp, and jump around – they knew that it was time to run! The dogsleds had a very nice setup. Two people – one of us and a tour guide – would stand at the back of the sled and handle steering and braking while the third person would be tucked into a blanket just in front of the drivers. The dogs did the rest of the work, and they were incredible at it. The dogs were fast, and it was amazing to see them hitting speeds of around 10 miles per hour (about 15-20 kilometers per hour)! We were fortunate to have great weather that day – low temperatures but clear, blue skies – which made for some breathtaking scenery. An overall great experience!

After the dogsled tour, we drove to Banff and visited one of the town’s hot springs. Actually, the site we visited is no longer a hot spring. It is now just an outdoor pool that is kept nice and warm. We stripped down to our swimsuits and took a dip in the pool, which was a strange experience given that it was so cold outside. Needless to say, it was not long after Neal dipped his head under the water that his hair froze solid! It was amazing to be submerged in water of 35 degrees Celsius while looking at a horizon lined with mountains and a full moon lighting up the sky. After taking it all in, we took advantage of the facilities and had a massage as well. We finished the night by walking through downtown Banff and having some dinner there. The next morning, we had a hearty breakfast in Canmore and then drove back to Calgary for our flight to Michigan.

The next few weekends were consumed with holiday festivities in Midland. We attended a few more house parties, including one in honor of both Neal’s and my departments. We put up our Christmas tree and hung our stockings over the fire place and enjoyed many nights in front of the fire soaking in the Christmas atmosphere. All the houses on our street, and throughout Midland, were adorned with all kinds of Christmas lights. The outside of our house was not so festive – maybe next year!

After work one evening, we took a slight detour to drive by a house that was extremely well decorated, complete with lights, blow-up reindeer, and a life size Santa sled. Upon approaching the house, we were astonished to notice the rather elderly man of the house and his wife dressed up as Santa and Mrs. Claus. Santa was sitting in the sled waving to passers-by and the Mrs. was walking up and down the sidewalk passing out candy canes to those that stopped to take a look at the house. Very festive, indeed!

During the month we saw another theater production this month – a musical tribute to Ray Charles, called “I Can’t Stop Loving You” – which we really enjoyed. We also enjoyed inviting some different groups of friends over for dinners at our place, and joined our friends Ken, Lynn, Mick and Catrina for an evening of Indian food and good company at Lynn and Ken’s house.

Our friends in Switzerland will appreciate the many fashion faux pas that we witnessed this month. From snowmen jumpers (think Bridget Jones’ Diary), to holly earrings, to Christmas socks with high heels, and vests with bells hanging off them so one makes a lot of noise as they approach you in the hallway – we saw it all. I am convinced that Midland is fashion hell.

The weather in Midland during the month was very mild – as it was across the U.S. – and we only experienced a few days of bad weather at the very beginning of the month. We took advantage of the unusually warm weather on a couple of days, including a Sunday afternoon bike ride down one of the local paths (the Rail Trail) that has an entry very close to our house, as well as an afternoon outdoors throwing around the frisbee.

For Christmas, we spent the day together in Midland. After a lazy morning of opening and playing with our gifts, we headed to the cinema in the early afternoon to see Will Smith’s movie, “The Pursuit of Happyness.” We were joined by our friend Patty and her daughter, Jenna. From there, the four of us came back to our house where we started our Christmas “Iron Chef” experience, which we had planned with Patty and Jenna a couple of days earlier. For those unfamiliar with the show, “Iron Chef” is a cooking program that originated in Japan. The premise of the show is that two chefs and their respective teams challenge one another to a cook off. They each have an hour to cook dishes that feature a secret ingredient, unveiled at the beginning of the program. We ran a modified version of “Iron Chef” for Christmas – we created a dinner menu that featured dishes that none of us had made before made each person responsible for preparing and cooking one course of the meal. Our menu (and assignments) was as follows:
• Scallops with a tabbouleh salsa (me)
• Potato and leek soup (Patty)
• Standing rib roast (all) with stuffed portobello mushrooms (Jenna) and warm rocket (arugula) salad (all)
• Grand Marnier crepes with fresh berries (Neal)

Patty’s son, Ryan, and his girlfriend, Michelle, joined us for dinner as well. It was a great way to spend Christmas!

During the month, we also found and ordered our second car and the day after Christmas we picked it up. We really wanted a convertible – I know, it sounds silly given that we live in a state that has six months of winter, but the summers here make it worthwhile. At the same time, I was adamant about having a front-wheel drive car which could reasonably handle winter weather driving. Surprisingly, there are not many front-wheel drive convertibles on the market. Still, we managed to find one: the Volkswagen Eos. It is a hard-top convertible coupe, and we ordered one in blue. The car drives really well, and we cannot wait to put the top down in the summer!

Two days after Christmas, we packed up the car and started the 5-hour drive to Toronto, where Mama Borg was schedule to arrive from her adventures in Europe. The only rest stop we took along the away was a slight detour into the town of London, Ontario, to take a look around the Covent Garden markets and grab a coffee.

After locating our hotel in downtown Toronto, we drove to the airport and waited for the long-anticipated arrival of Mama Borg. Before arriving in Toronto, Anna had been in Malta visiting her family for 10 days and this was her second leg of her Christmas vacation. After a happy reunion, we enjoyed a late dinner before all getting some needed rest. The following day we drove to the quaint town of Niagara on the Lake to do a little exploring and then drove to Niagara Falls. The falls, although smaller than one would imagine, are impressive in sheer volume and presence. As the tour books will verify, the Canadian side of the falls (known as the Horseshoe Falls) are far more impressive than the American side (Bridal Veil Falls). We stayed until dusk to witness the colored light show that is displayed over the falls and then headed back to Toronto and a great Portugese seafood restaurant for dinner.

The following day we explored the very pretty and lively Toronto downtown and then had a fabulous time at a murder mystery theater dinner. On December 30, we headed back to Midland where we spent the remainder of the year relaxing, playing cards, and showing Mama Borg our new hometown. To see the New Year in, we enjoyed a great home-cooked dinner followed by a few games of cards and joined in the Times Square countdown in New York that was telecast on TV. We did manage to each write a decent set of New Year’s resolutions – we will see how many of them get accomplished before this time next year.

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and wish you all a happy new year!