Day: August 20, 2015

 After yesterday’s forfeit in the 60’s doubles games and the auto-win for Greg and his partner Merv, Greg’s more than ready to play!  Today, he will be playing his first 55’s doubles match with his partner William at 8:00 pm tonight.  Right now, we are waiting for his opponents to show up…it’s 7:30 and still a no show.

We had a nice relaxing day leading up to game time.  We had a leisurely morning, did some research of the activities we’d like to do while we’re in Calgary and then grabbed an early lunch at a great place called 4th Spot.

 Then we went over to the club to scout out tonight’s opponents. While Greg scouted, I took a nap in the RV.  Man that felt yummy.  I enjoy a good nap now and then and there has been no time since we hit the road a week ago.

While I wait for the match to start, I’ll fill you in on the rest of the day.  After scouting/napping, we did a little grocery shopping to stock up on our necessities.  Found our way to Safeway.  We discovered that things run a little differently here in Calgary.  For example, the shopping carts are locked up. (Hmmm! That’s weird. How are you supposed to shop?) The whole idea of supplying your own shopping bags is gaining traction back home in California, but supplying your own cart?  Now I’ve heard of everything.  Being the problem solvers that we are, we quickly found a friendly Safeway clerk to clear up the locked shopping cart mystery.  Ohhhhh…I see.  It costs a quarter to unlock.  Evidently the cost of a quarter is a deterrent to anyone who might want to steal a shopping cart (?)  Speaking of shopping carts, we haven’t seen any homeless people here in Calgary.  I wonder why….must look into that one.

Glad we had a quarter!  But then again, Darrell the box boy quickly came to our aid and offered to use his makeshift retrievable quarter he wore as a necklace around his neck.  Darrell seemed to want to be our friend, helping us to the RV with our groceries and not in a hurry to part ways after the groceries were loaded.

That’s something we’ve really noticed about Canada.  The people here are super nice, very layback and very present.  Everyone is super willing to slow down and engage us in conversation.  That’s a quality we really appreciate.

After shopping, we tried to find a new restaurant, other than Van Gogh’s.  But the highway had an unexpected detour, we got a bit lost, and short on time, so back to Van Gogh’s it is, for the 4th time in 3 days.  We are such regulars!

With just a little time to get back to the RV campground and settle the doggies in for the evening, we had to eat quickly.  Greg’s partner picked us up at the RV park and drove us to downtown Calgary where tonight’s match is taking place.  Downtown is such a beautiful, clean city.  Glad we got to see it!

A few observations while I’m waiting for the match to start.  Being in a familiar place where you instinctually know how to get from Point A to Point B, is a peaceful, comfortable way to exist.  The opposite is also true…never knowing exactly where you’re going when you turn on the ignition is consistently, mildly stressful.  But I keep reminding myself that we are on an adventure, and inherent in that is confronting the unknown.  I hope, when we get home, I remember the simple blessing of familiarity with my surroundings (which is kind of interesting given the fact that we just moved to a new neighborhood. Guess we’ve adapted more than we think!)

Match update.…Greg and his partner lost their 55’s doubles match.  They played well, but it wasn’t enough.  The scores were 21-10 and 21-13.  Even though it’s never fun to lose, at least now he won’t have to play at 10:00 pm tomorrow night.  Now he can focus on his 60’s doubles match at 8:00 pm tomorrow night!