Canadians invade United States, make changes along way

Ever since I started my time in Canada, I have been fascinated with the subtle differences between it and the States (ie: the candy/chocolate bar market). You all have heard about how I miss certain things from the States during my stay, such as iced tea (not Nestea) and biscuits (not cookies) and how I am shocked at how certain chain restaurants will change their menu, apparently to please the Canadian palate. Well, I have found evidence of the opposite taking place.

In our jouney back home from the graduation trek (I have a degree!), my parents and I stopped at a Tim Horton's just outside of Columbus, Ohio. I may have mentioned to some of you how I can now get a fix for my Timmy's addiction in just 1 1/2 hours, since that's about how far away the closest one is. And they're spreading. I imagine that one day there will be a Tim's every 60 miles or so down the I-75 corridor (which, of course is the Canadian's highway to Florida). Anyway, we stopped at this one, and, well, just see if you can find what's wrong with this picture:

Okay, maybe you can't tell from that one. It's just proof that it was taken at a Tim Horton's. Try this one:

Do you see it? The homestyle biscuit? Unbelievable! They even serve up breakfast sandwiches on them, just like any other American fast food joint would. It amazes me, as you can tell.

Other differences: no nanaimo bars or teabiscuits (which is not what these biscuits are!). But I was happy to see the Roll up the Rim contest, since we would have just missed it. I didn't even win anything, but it made me nostaligic just to bite and tear at the cup.

So here I have proof that the changes go both directions; restaurants will alter themselves to accomodate different palates. So, in order to get the original, you have to go to the source. A fresh copy is always better than a copy of a copy.

I'm really glad that I got the opportunity to visit with most of the 695ers again. It was a great trip, but went by much too fast, per usual. For those who couldn't participate in the festivities (Sarah!), I have some photos to share. Here's a couple, the others are on the photobucket site in the Trash 2006 folder. We missed you! Here's to future visits!

That's all for now. Love and miss you all.