Tell me that doesn't look absolutely EPIC.
This is a picture of dinner enjoyed in room 233. But no no, it was not ordered from an organic restaurant close by, nor was it room-serviced from the Denny's-type restaurant downstairs. Ladies and gentlemen, this salad - this beautiful work of culinary art - was hand-crafted by Kimberly Ivany.
After eating a year's worth of Thai chicken wraps within two weeks, nothing beats a fresh bowl of green bliss. Sure, I still topped it off with Salsalitta thighs, (another Maple Lodge Special Event team tradition) but those spicy chicken pieces mixed with the soft, sultry avocado chunks and crisp lettuce made for a perfect blend of YUM.
We've been on the road just under three weeks now and I, just like my chicken mates, have been missing the goodness of home-cooked meals. But dinner tonight definitely hit the spot.
You may be more interested however, in where I purchased my salad supplies today.
After departing "Quality Inn Waddling Dog" this morning, we had a few hours to kill before check-in time at our next hotel in Victoria. We got some gas for the truck, did a site-check at Thrifty's in preparation for our event there tomorrow, and also made a stop at good ol' Wal-Mart for some groceries...
Turns out, we went shopping inside the LARGEST Wal-Mart in all of Canada. HA!
After entering through the automatic doors, passed the layers of candy-dispenser machines in the lobby, we stood there in awe as a chorus of angels were heard above us singing "AWWWWWWW."
No. That didn't happen. But we DID stand there with our jaws wide open in amazement.
Unfortunately, I have nothing to illustrate this portion of my bloggity-blog post with, but picture it in your mind: there were aisles upon AISLES stocked with everything you have ever seen on this earth. It was deep, wide and multi-storied, complete with escalators with a special lane for shopping carts!! They should honestly rename this place "Wal-Mall" because it was just that grand! Consumerism has come a long way since I was your age, kid.
Shortly after, with bean sprouts and body wash in my plastic bag, we made our way to the Comfort Hotel and Conference Centre, hotel number nine...or is it hotel number ten? 11 maybe? Ah, life on the road.
It was only 3:00 at this point, so we decided to press our luck and see if we could find another beach, just warmer, sandier and sun-tannier this time.
Oak Bay, Victoria was where it was at.
There's really something magical about standing on the edge of an ocean. Except for the odd boat or cloud floating by, the scene one sees while standing there on the sand generally never changes: just a very static blue sky and the constant, gentle, pulsing waves.
But no matter how long you look at this beautiful landscape, I don't think you can truly grasp it to your satisfaction. At least I can't. The colours are too vibrant for me to take in. The spread of the water is to wide for me to comprehend. And the mountains on the horizon??? I wanted to somehow hold up a piece of wax paper right there on the beach and trace them.
I've said it before, but it really is so beautiful here. Not just British Columbia, but all of Canada! We've seen so many amazing things on this road adventure of ours, and taken albums worth of pictures of all of it. But most importantly, I know we've all experienced moments that define summer.
Yes.
And now, to balance out the goodness of lettuce and peppers I just devoured, I've switched to double-stuffed oreos. They were part of Mike's purchases at Wal-Mart, but he's watching The Sixth Sense right now so I'm sure I can get away with eating one....or five.
Hmmmmmmm life. Ain't it tasty?!
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