I probably just had the most fun I've had in a long time. Seeing "YYZ" on my bags was pretty surreal, but I had nothing to fear. Canada was awesome! I stayed with my internet friends Ryan North and Allene Chomyn and I couldn't have asked for more. They are truly two of the nicest, coolest, and funniest people I know. We stayed together all week and had a blast. In fact I had so much fun, that I didn't take that many photos, so this isn't the best photo-journal. In fact, most of these are from Allene's camera. But enough excuses, let's get to it, eh?

Ryan and Allene took me to the CN tower. And although Ryan wasn't exactly enthusiastic about it, he soon changed his mind and a supremely-fun time was had by all!

Ryan still tried to throw Allene off the top. Luckily his efforts were all for naught. :)

With the concrete monument behind us we ventured to High Park. The weather was gorgeous and the park was so beautiful! There were areas that were manicured and designed and there were also wilderness areas that made you forget you were in the big city. We saw chipmunks, brown squirrels, huge black squirrels, ducks, geese, goldfinches, thrushes, and chickadees and they even had a little zoo full of peacocks, llamas, and bison. It was awesome!

Rolling hills and beautiful views were all over the place. I still can't get over the fact that Ryan said that this lake freezes solid and everything is covered with snow. It was all so green!

This was one of the semi-wild areas. The whole city was very pedestrian friendly and the park was no exception. All of the trees really made me feel at home. :)

These little ducks walked right up to us. All of the animals were very used to people. We later had a close encounter with an inquisitive little chipmunk. Before today, Allene had never even seen one. They were teeny-tiny and adorable, although a little lighter in color compared to the ones in Georgia.

We stopped for snacks (note: not hobo-snacks) and were visited by a little inquisitive goose. Allene said his name was "Gooseypants." Despite our protest he did indeed respond to her repeatedly calling his name and doing the "Gooseypants Dance." REPEATEDLY! ;) Ryan fed him little bread crumbs, although Gooseypants seemed to eat more of Ryan's hand in the process.

In conclusion... We had the best time ever! That's me, Allene and Ryan.

Although most of my time was spent with Allene and Ryan, I also got to meet Mr. Kean Soo! He is indeed as cool as I imagined he would be. Here he is with the infamous Humlan. :)

We also got to hang out with Steph... as did Humlan. Thanks to Steph, Frisbees were thrown (somuchfun!), imaginary cooperative Boggle was played, and jam comics were drawn!

Ryan's extremely cool, nice, and talented brother Victor came down to help Ryan move. He fit in perfectly! We also found out that he's the "Pedal-With-Your-Knees Kiddie Tricycle Downhill Champion." Man, such good times! :)

We were also graced with the presence of Mr. Joey Comeau! He, um... isn't really that scary in person. Ryan agrees... well, most of the time, when he's not putting Ryan in a sleeper-hold. ;)

So... what about the show? Well, the entire reason for the trip to Canada was so that I could attend the Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF). Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures at the show, but you can see what it was like thanks to the superior journalism skills of my friends!

• Hope's Report
• Raina and Dave's Report
• Ryan's Report
• Kean's Report
• Vera and Rich's Report

Oh! I did get one shot, well, rather, Brett did...

On the last day if the con, I was able to stop for drinks and celebrate with my friends, the ever-charming José Villarubia, Nick Marinkovich, Kirsten, and Brett Warnock.

I had such an amazing time at the show. Extra-special thanks to Peter and Chris for putting the whole thing together, to all of the volunteers, to Chris and Rob for their help, to Brett for all his hard work at the show, to my friends new and old that weren't pictured here but are totally awesome: Chris P., Jeff, Derek, Josué, Jim, 'Food, Scott, Raina, Dave, Kazu, Amy, Johane, Ryan S., Matt, Hope, Mal, Rich, Vera, Becky, Corey, Nick P., Jeff, Eric, Ro, Miguel, Jason, everyone who was at the show, and all of the Owly fans who stopped by and said hi. Your kindness and support was unbelievable! :)

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