Prescott Arizona Feb 11th

Ah, you can tell the wine's vintage by how much the grapes glow!

This place was actually fantastic!  I had Pesto Angel Hair pasta, homemade and delicious.  Arizona is an amazing state, I highly reccomend it.  In one state (and one day), we went through desert and snowy mountains.

Border-sitting

We started off our wonderful trip with Visa troubles.  Not the credit issues everyone in the U.S. seems to be having, but the working papers necessary for border crossing.  We could have lied, but then we would have been blacklisted at some point, like my dad.

A Japanese Sushi place gave us meat dumplings...my fellow vegetarian taste-tested, and is now a raging carnivore....nope, he was just disgusted!

We got an all-the-all-the-outs-in-free call, and drove back to Toronto!  Our general manager and her husband drove the truck to California and I got a few extra days with my hubby!

Guess who I surprised in the bathtub!  Luckily he was alone...

Brace yourself...

Bracebridge, Ontario.  Population 15,682.

I dropped into a certain Crabby restuarant, and peeked at the menu.  Hmm.  Only option: Veggie burger.  Having experienced enough freezerburnt soy hockey pucks (in many more major metropolises), I inquired of the hostess "How often do you serve veggie burgers?".  She leaned in to me, looked furtively about and said "Don't tell anyone I said so, but you should go to Kelsey's!".   I smiled at her, and walked quickly to the grocery store: the vegetarian's Plan B.  

A package of fresh pre-cut vegetables for stir fry, Spelt Flat Bread, hummus and guacamole ran me $15, and has lasted for several snacks afterwards.  I ate my meal sitting on my bed watching 24; it had the added bonus of feeling like a junk-food binge.  

Bracebridge is in Muskoka, and its highlights include Santa's Village, and a Conveyer Belt Factory.  We drove past the factory, and had our minds blown by the idea of conveyer belts conveying conveyer belts, an Escher work of art.

The next day for lunch we were directed to a treasure of a spot, the Muskoka Natural Food Market.  It contained a plethora of health food, and sported a Vegetarian deli with cafe seating.  One rice bowl with mixed greens and tempeh later, I was feeling better about Bracebridge.