Pass the Chips, Please.

While I may have mentioned in my last post that we all got safely home to Clare's apartment at 4am, I did not mention that Clare and Di continued to talk until 8am!  Now I happen to know that these two email each other several times a day, and they'd just spent almost four hours in a car together, so what they possibly had to talk about for another four hours is completely beyond me, but that's how it happened!

As a result of their late night (or should I say morning), their first real day in Canada was a day off for me.  I mean how can I be a tour guide to a bunch of people lying in bed!  Still, they eventually got around to wakefulness, mostly due to intense hunger and a lack of food in the house, not that Clare didn't TRY and prepare for their coming, they just kept telling her they'd go shopping with her the first day.  I bet they regretted that decision.

When hunger prevails, a restaurant always seems to be the first choice, especially given that fast food places tend not to cater to Celiacs very well.  Since they had always been fighting to find restaurants that understand (or even know of) gluten while in Utah, Clare was eager to introduce my friends to Swiss Chalet, a place known for its chicken and ribs.  What Ontario has to do with the Swiss or Chalets is beyond me, but the chain does very well, and all were impressed with their willingness and ability to work with both Clare and Di's dietary needs.  I can't help wonder what Clare would eat if we were to return to Peru now!

Once their bellies were full, we took a drive over to Riverside Park, but never actually parked.  We just drove through, but I'm not sure why except maybe to follow the strange van that had "CAUTION SCHOOL CHILDREN" written on the back of it.  A discussion followed about the various interpretations of the three words, depending on where you put the stress (or comma if you were to use punctuation)...
- caution; school children
- caution, school children
- caution school: children
Whatever!  You figure it out! 


The final chore of the day was to obtain groceries.  One would think this would be a fairly simple task.  There are grocery stores in the United States after all!  However, what started as a simple drive to a store known to have a good gluten-free variety, ended up a tour of three different grocery stores, in two cities (two of which were the same store just different location).  Here are just two examples that might give you some idea as to why a simple grocery store run became a major operation;


While looking for milk, Di and Nate stare blankly at the 1L carton, the 2L carton, and the 4L bags, ask where the 1 gallon jug is and then question how one is expected to drink from a bag!


At the till Di attempts to pay with her credit card and the cashier asks if it has a chip.  Di, bewildered, can only respond with "No, we didn't buy chips."

Finally we acquired enough grub to last a few days, returned home where I appropriately introduced them to the wonderful Canadian singing group "Arrogant Worms" by entertaining them with a recorded concert.  I may live to regret that showing as we've listened to nothing but Arrogant Worms in the car ever since.

Once the video was over, Nate smartly went to sleep while Clare and Di continued to talk (is anyone seeing a pattern here?).  I'm not even going to comment on when they went to bed this time, but I will say they were proud to inform me they went to bed "early"... I suppose 4am is early if its when you are waking up.


Tim Horton's Count: 2 (Total = 5)
Whatever!