We have arrived in Edmonton. We got anxious and left Salt Lake at 10pm on Tuesday. On our way to Canada we passed through barren wastelands, stopped for gas in eerie post-apocalyptic ghost towns, and butted heads with evil faceless truckers in the black of night. In other words, we drove through a series of Steven King novels.

Patches of heavy snow appeared as we passed Ogden. The snow intensified as we approached Idaho. There was a calm in the snowfall when we stopped for gas in Malad (never ever stop in Malad). Then blizzard conditions began and continued for 500 miles. We were driving on a sheet of ice for most of the trip. In Montana the snow took on a fine, dry consistency, like grains of sand blowing in the wind. Mixed with fog, the fine snow whipped across the road in eerie clouds. Truck drivers thundered by at 100 miles per hour, throwing up impenatrable clouds of snow and ice. When trucks passed, I was forced to come to a complete stop on the freeway until visibility returned. I'd say there ought to be a law against trucks doing that, but there already is one. They ought to enforce that law because people could easily die in the wake of a speeding truck.

In the morning we arrived at the border. Our experience at the customs station was not entirely unlike our wedding, in that we waited in an office, filled out forms, paid money, and colored a picture. They were going to issue a visitor permit to Erin. I mentioned that I had read that they can issue open work permits to spouses of students. The guy said, "let me check into that," and went away for a few hours. When he came back, he said, "well, I've looked through everything and there's nothing that specifically says I can do that. But, there's nothing that says I can't. So here you go."

Permits in hand, we gleefully left the border and puttered our way into the Great White North. We had been driving for about 18 hours, so we thought we might stop in Lethbridge, the first major town on the Canada side. The first sight that greeted us as we pulled into Lethbridge was a Mormon church steeple. "Can we please keep going?" I begged Erin and she agreed.

We made it all the way to Calgary before I started losing my mind. We went to the first hotel we saw, the Wingate Inn. For Can$100 (US$64), we got a spacious suite with a TV, complementary high-speed internet service, continental breakfast, etc. There were other things like hot tub, sauna, exercise facility, and internet room that we didn't take advantage of. And they didn't bill us for our phone calls. We were getting our first taste of Canadian value.

The next day we drove into Edmonton and had a look at our apartment. It's a huge one-bedroom with a massive balcony, a large living room, enormous closets (with built-in shelving), and brand new carpet. The rent is about US$500/mo. I signed up for a combined digital cable/cable internet service at US$46/mo. My cell phone plan is US$19/mo. And I think calls to the US might actually be cheaper on the phone than with calling cards. We went to Ikea and bought chairs, a dining table, a couch, some desks, misc kitchen and bathroom stuff, lamps, etc -- the essential home furnishings -- for a grand total of about US$900. Holy geez.

I took Erin to the dentist to see about her toothaches. The insurance up here covers her exam and some fillings. That's more than what we had in Utah. But it won't cover the root canals or bridge work that she needs. She needs about US$2000 of dental work. I'm trying to figure out how to pay for it. I suppose it will mean getting stuck with more debt, but in the long run I'd rather have slightly higher debt than a wife with no teeth. And at least the work is going to be a fraction of what it would cost in the US.

The light rail station literally is at our front door step. Everything seems to be just five minutes away from us. And get this: a guy in my lab today told me I was living in the expensive part of town. Into what sort of upside-down fairy-tale world have we stumbled?