Slight Detour: Driving and Dancing

It's Madness on the Mind this morning.

But wait!

Yesterday was pretty calm. We went to Canada.

Bill announced earlier this week that he'd like to make a trip to Canada while the weather was still nice.

So, it worked out yesterday, and off we went, with two dogs in the back seat.

Bill and Annie had gone geocaching earlier this year near Moyie Lake on the Eastport crossing. Plus, he and Willie had gone fishing in that same area last summer.

It had been a while since I had made the trip, so we decided on Cranbrook as a destination.

We enjoyed ourselves from start to finish, and I think the dogs did too. They spent time outside during a couple of stops, one at a wetlands area near Cranbrook; the other, a roadside rest stop on the highway from Cranbrook to Creston.

Bridie's ball went along, so she had some quality chasing and retrieving, while Foster was in sniffing Heaven.

After driving around sections of Cranbrook, we parked and spent some time in Max's Place where, over coffee and treats, we visited with a railway retiree who had come West from Montreal more than 50 years ago.

We had the impression he was a regular at the coffee shop because, being an hour ahead of Pacific Time, we realized that we had arrived not long before closing time.

Our friend announced he would help the gals behind the counter clean up.

Later, we stopped by a fenced-in resort on the south end of Moyie Lake. Within minutes of turning in, we met Denise who has two lots at the resort.

It didn't take long for us to figure out that Denise was the resident Chamber of Commerce for the resort---very outgoing and informative.

Over dinner at Jimmy D's in Creston, we texted back and forth with Annie who was on a lengthy layover in Los Angeles, waiting for her flight to Sydney.

As I write at 7:21 a.m., she's been in the air for about eight hours----only seven more to go.

And, so, we had a nice day in Canada, and we're getting revved up to watch as our brackets either explode with correct choices or implode with the message "You're done."

I've submitted multiples in both my groups: Friday Night Diners through CBS Sports and Big D's Big Time Bracket Challenge through ESPN and Sandpoint High School.

The latter is supplying half the profits ($5 per bracket) to Bonner Homeless Transitions, and last time I checked 200 brackets had been posted. So, it looks like it will be a nice donation.

Besides the bracketology, we have our first big game today: Gonzaga Men's team vs. McNeese State University (Bill's alma mater).

I still don't know what he's planning to do as far as supporting the ZAGS or the Cowboys, but it will be a win-win situation---sorta.

I don't think he will be happy if Gonzaga loses, but he might be happy if McNeese wins, and I'm pretty sure he will be happy if Gonzaga wins but sad if McNeese loses.

It's a quandary, for sure, but, regardless of results, he'll just move on enjoying the tournament like the rest of us.

Happy Thursday. Enjoy the Madness.