RV DAY 48: CANADA, OH CANADA!

Campers, we have arrived in Canada where everyone ends their sentence with “eh!” After two weeks in Jasper and Banff, here are some observations about our welcoming neighbor to the north.

The people and language: Canadians are genuinely friendly, so I immediately don’t trust them. They can speak Canadian French and Canadian English perfectly and switch between the two effortlessly, which can only mean they have been trained as bilingual spies their whole lives. All signs, menus, packages, and literature are written in both languages, which helps me review my high school French, although all I can make out are Bienvenue and Vous etes ici. While they sound more American than British when speaking English, they spell words like the Queen’s Tongue (e.g., colour, favourite, aluminium). Canadians also seem to be stuck in the 90s, or maybe 2005 at the latest. “Today’s Hits” on the radio consist of the likes of Billy Joel and Richard Marx. The newest songs I heard were James Blunt’s You’re Beautiful, Britney Spears’s Baby Hit Me One More Time, or maybe Lady Gaga’s Pokerface.

The parks and environment: The campgrounds here are absolutely breathtaking with very clean amenities. All the porta potties are built with cedar wood so there is no foul odor. Rangers are called “park wardens” which sounds a little scary, not that I have anything to hide. Bears in Canada are as ubiquitous as grey Prii (officially decreed by Toyota as the plural form of Prius) in San Francisco. There are hourly bear sighting reports on the radio, and people jog and bike with a mandatory bear spray or risk a hefty fine. The highway is completely fenced in to keep wildlife out of the roads.

The goods and services: When I had to fill a prescription, it only cost $15 which would have been $50 back home without insurance. When we had a flat tire, we stopped by the Saskatchewan Crossing gas station and the mechanic changed it for us FOR FREE. He worked tirelessly for an hour – keep in mind that it’s not some dinky tire on a Honda Civic. The tire alone weighs 500 pounds (or maybe 50) and the RV weighs a million pounds (ok more like 13,000). That could have easily cost $100 back home! We rewarded him with a six-pack of cold beers instead. While some goods and services are a lot more affordable (or even free), others will cost you an arm and a leg. Case in point: alcohol. Forget 3 buck chucks - a “cheap” bottle of wine will set you back $20. A case of Budweiser or a bottle of Vodka? $45! That is highway robbery indeed. Furthermore, now that the exchange rate is C$1 to US$1, it has become rather disadvantageous for Americans who are used to 75 cents for every US$.

Nevertheless, go get yourself a passport and visit Canada, eh!