6/7/22

I crossed into Canada via the Peace Bridge. It was pretty uneventful, which is the best way to cross border into another country. Since my camera was not working at time, I don't have any videos of the crossing. Jigger lives in Brampton, a suburb about 25 miles west of Toronto. Brampton is heavily population by Indian Canadians. As I got deeper and deeper into Brampton, I could see numerous Indian restaurants and stores mixed in with Tim Hortons, the national pride of Canada.

Jigger and I first met back in Boston thru a local motorcycle Meetup group. He rides a Triumph Street Triple R. We went on a motorcycle trip together back in 2015 thru the maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick.

Since then he moved back to Canada and I've moved to Raleigh so we haven't seen each other since 2016. When I arrived at his house, it was fantastic to finally see him and meet his parents and brother. They set me up in an awesome basement apartment with a private bath and kitchen. It's a great feeling to have a home base and unpack for a few days.

6/8/22

The first official business of being in Canada was to make another pilgrimage:

This is 100% better then Dunkin. Just saying. After some moose juice, I had to go to the local mall to pickup a Canadian sim card for my phone and pick up a few odds and ends. A few observation: things in Canada is expensive! Even with the currency exchange. I keep getting sticker shock everywhere. There's something odd about the settings here. It's like America but not really. There is a subtle British, European feel to the architecture and design of buildings, strip malls, signs, and of course they spell certain words wrong. But no surprises, it's a breeze to get around and communicate. The food is quite good. Been getting a mixed of home cooked and restaurant Indian food. Overall, this is a metropolitan city and I encountered everything that one would expect from a big city. I'm looking forward to heading west to smaller towns and wilderness.