ImageThis weekend I went south of the border to the United States and did some shopping. With the Canadian dollar worth equal or more than the US dollar for the first time in about 30 years it was time to go shopping!

We traveled down on Friday night, expecting a long line up at the border. The radio had said there would be long line ups of over 2 hours, due to so many people going shopping. So we were surprised when the crossing took less than 20 minutes. Perhaps the weather had discouraged people from coming out.

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Sometime soon I plan to get myself enrolled into the nexus program since I cross the border frequently it makes sense to. It should save me some wait time at the border crossing. Sometimes the nexus lane is not open, but most of those times there is not a long wait.

On top of my list was some clothing for kayaking. A couple of months back we went kayaking, and the weather turned foul. I did not have the right gear on and I was cold and wet, and since we were out some ways, I had to endure it until we got back. Now the weather is getting even colder, and in colder weather, you need to wear something warmer than you do in summer. They say dress for the water temperature, and that is definitely coming down. I was looking for a farmer john style wetsuit, combined with a dry top / paddling jacket.

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Recently I had been looking around here in Canada, and found that most stores consider kayaking gear as seasonal and they remove most of the kayaking gear to make room for the ski gear. To me, the warmer kayaking clothing is for the colder time of the year and it does not make sense to buy during the summer when it is too hot to wear it.

Fortunately we found something, just what we needed in a Bellingham store. They had moved all their remaining stock to the back of the store and we went through it all to find something suitable. The bonus was that it was on sale.

I am looking forward to going kayaking next weekend and trying out our new gear. We won't have to worry too much about the cold or the rain now. We should remain warm and dry as we paddle through the winter.

Duncan