California girl goes to Canada - News at 11

I don't know what I was expecting except that Michael made it seem like Banff would be positively inhospitable to human life. It wasn't at all! Granted, it was below freezing the entire time but I was surprised that, given a coat, scarf, gloves, hat and long underwear, I was really comfortable and I didn't slip on the ice once.

You see, as a 3rd generation native of Los Angeles, we do not get snow, contrary to the belief of the waitress at Nellie's in Calgary ("Well, it's gotta snow sometime!" - Um. No.) So having been to the snow only a handful of times in my life, 90% of which was after snow fell and there was a handful of iced over dirty crud on the side of the road which my sister and I would squeal over and have what we thought was a "snowball fight", I was not entirely sure of what to expect.

It was freakin' gorgeous! Banff was not to be believed. We were there at the invitation of Mick who met Michael in Palm Springs about 2 years ago and they have been enjoying each other's company ever since. Mick is also a rider so he and Michael have quite a bit in common.

So, immediately from the airport, within about 45 minutes of touching down, I dragged Mick and Michael to one of Calgary's local yarn stores, Make One and it was great! Suzen and Karen were working and since I had written up in advance of my arrival, Mick was absolutely floored to have them know who I was and introduce themselves like they had known me for years. Here is a photo of their very cute shop which I am anxious to spend more time at the next time I'm in Calgary.

Next day we headed out to Banff. Where Mick immediately took us to stand on a frozen river. Now, I've eaten fire, I've done a few nutty things in my life. Never have I stood on a frozen river. First, I keep hearing things like the ice cracks and you fall in and there's no way to get back out. Also, I cannot tell how thick the ice is so there's no way for me to gauge if this is some completely crazy guy just getting us to risk our lives for his giggles. I went out onto the frozen river. I took this picture. I got off of the frozen river.

The wedding was Saturday and was absolutely spectacular. Here are the grooms. Jim is on the left. He is a farm boy from Saskatchewan. Mick is on the right. The grand ballroom where the wedding took place was absolutely stunning. The justice of the peace who performed the ceremony hit all the right notes about marriage being a partnership with all that entails. I was incredibly honored to be at this ceremony.

To see two men get married legally was really wonderful and gave me so much hope that someday every couple will be able to do what Mick and Jim did. Michael and I did spend a good deal of the night apologizing, as the only Americans at the wedding, for our president and the people who voted for him. It's pretty pathetic that just to the north of us is a country that is so much more progressive than we are. I find it really shameful. I think the most common comment was that people just didn't understand why we "elected" him. It is a difficult question to answer.

Anyway, on a lighter note, here is my incredibly lame first snow angel. My snow angel is beautiful and disabled a little. Oops.

And Michael and me at the top of the gondola freezing our American tits off. Notice my hoodie, which I made on the way up. It was actually pretty perfect and went with everything I wore. Check it out. Anyway, we had a fabulous time. I've got a lot more photos where these came from. Just thought I'd update since I've been home for a whole 12 hours now. Love, y'all. Love L.A.