Great great-away!

The bus trip to Minot was a success; I finished my Christmas shopping, spoiled myself a little, found some real bargains, spent some time relaxing in my hotel room, and met a wonderful group of women. Apparently this tour has been happening for many years and some of the participants have been on multiple trips. However, there is no guarantee it will happen again next year, as the bus company has recently been bought out and the new ownership may decide to cancel it. There were originally around 38 tentative bookings but by the time we left, we were down to 23 (plus hostess and driver) on a 54 passenger bus. I'm glad they decided not to cancel.

We left Regina on a very cold Thursday morning (-18C/0F) at about 9 a.m. There were several women on the bus who had boarded in Moose Jaw, and I think were about 12 of us from Regina. We had one more stop to pick up a woman in Weyburn before we headed to Estevan in time for lunch. We were expected to arrive there about 11:30 but actually reached the city a good 30 minutes early. After a quick lunch at Taco Time or Subway, we hit the road again for the border crossing. There was a short stop on the Canadian side at the duty free.

At the crossing, the bus was directed to a separate area, and an agent boarded the bus to collect our passports. I don't think we were sitting more than 15 minutes before he returned and gave the passports to Diane, our hostess. She handed them out and we were on our way. To pass some time, we played a game of "Survivor" at a cost of $5 USD. We selected one card from each of decks of blue and red playing cards, which we tore in half. One half went into a bucket and we held the other cards. As cards were drawn, the other half was handed in and the last card to be drawn would win the pot. I lost my first card very early and figured I had no chance, but I was still holding on when there were only four cards left. The gal in front of me also had a card, and said "I'll make you a deal, if we're the last two cards, I'll split the pot with you." I agreed, and yes, we were the last two cards. However, she would have won the entire pot had she not made the deal with me. In any event we both had $50 additional cash to spend.

We arrived at the hotel about 3:30 p.m. and were greeted by the staff with bottles of water, our room keys, and information about the hotel and its amenities. After unloading our luggage and at little time at our rooms, we headed back to the bus for a short drive to a truck stop diner for dinner. We were told basically everything in the city was closed and it certainly appeared that way on our drive. We had what my kids call the senior dinner, eating by 5 p.m. The food was fine, the company much better. I was ready for an early night and quite happy to be back at the hotel and settled by shortly after 6 p.m.

N

I DID NOT get up early the following morning to go shopping at the mall. Others did, however, and several were in line-up at the J.C. Penney doors at 4:45 a.m.! I slept in until 7:15, took my time before heading down for breakfast, and joined several others on the bus for the drive to Hobby Lobby and Kohl's. We were given three hours! for this jaunt - mostly due to the thought there would be long line-ups. There weren't and I was back on the bus after an hour. Hobby Lobby's sale items were primarily Christmas and leftover from the fall/Thanksgiving. No yarn on sale though I did find a item for D's Christmas gift. At Kohl's I found some towels and a blanket for Eli, but nothing else sparked my interest. Thankfully, I had my Sudoku book of puzzles to amuse me while I waited for the others.

In the afternoon I shopped and ate at the mall. I had hoped to find a specific book at Barnes and Noble for my brother, but they had none in stock nor in their warehouse. Carter's, Ross Dress for Less, and Target were provided some clothing for Eli and me. Later in the day, we made a trip over to Walmart, where I purchased some grocery items, some yarn (just 2 skeins), a duffle bag (to pack things in) and a couple of gift items. 

Saturday was a very successful day - some relaxing in the morning, and shopping in the afternoon. The bus was going back to Hobby Lobby and Kohl's so I stayed behind, walked over to T. J. Maxx where I found more items for Eli and me. Back at the room, I did some crocheting. I cannot locate the amigurumi cocoa mugs I made on last year's cruise, so I found another pattern that I actually like better, and worked on those. I used some yarn I'd brought with me, as well as the yarn I bought at Walmart. I also spent some time on my cross stitch project.

D messaged me to say that the local store was out of brown sugar, so after lunch at the mall, I wandered down to Target and found a couple of bags of brown sugar for her. I'll mail them to her later this week, when I finish the cocoa mugs as those are meant to be gifts for Eli's teachers, teacher aides, and the principal.

Our trip to Menard's that afternoon was amazing - what a store! I thought of it as a hardware/lumber store, but it is much more. They have a grocery section, and at this time of year a huge section for Christmas. I was able to finish off my list of gifts, with a few extras to boot. Who wouldn't want a cordless screwdriver for $4.99? Well, I don't know if they do or not, but both my kids are getting one. 

Later in the evening, we had a another jaunt, this time to Joann Fabrics. I was looking for permanent vinyl for D's Cricuit, but though the vinyl was on sale, the package she wanted was out of stock. I did look at the yarn, and fondled a few of the pound balls, but left them on the shelf. They were definitely a good price, even with the conversion rate but I reminded myself I have a closet full here that needs to be used. Maybe next year.

Speaking of pricing, I did the math on the sale prices and found I saved about 33% overall according to my receipts. I haven't done the calculation of a comparison of USD to CDN as yet, primarily because several of the grocery items I purchased are only available in the U.S. That included Dolly Parton cake mixes, special flavours of Oreo's, and Dot's Pretzels. My best deal was a pair of slip-on Skechers for $32 ($45 C), which is a 40% savings over the cost the same pair here. 

Now, I agree, that I probably didn't save a whole lot when one considers the cost of the trip itself. However, I could not have booked a hotel room for three nights and driven there and back for the price I paid for the tour. It was worth the cost if only for some time away especially after the stress of this move. I stayed well within my spending budget and enjoyed the company of my fellow shoppers as well.

We were all loaded and on the bus by 9 a.m. on Sunday, with a short stop at the U.S. duty free before the border. There the bus was directed to a building where we all off-loaded with our passports. Two agents met us, one scanning our passport while the other reviewed our declaration cards. As long as the amount was $1000 or less (the limit is generally $800) we were through the line quickly. We had to wait until they finished with everyone and did a quick check of the interior of the bus before we were permitted to re-board. Two of our passengers were sent to another building to pay the duty on their over-limit purchases. See the photo below...and they had two more large suitcases in addition! After a quick stop in Estevan for lunch, we dropped off the passenger in Weyburn, and were in Regina by 3 p.m. 

I did learn, I need to take a large suitcase with me, as I had to buy a duffle bag and still had two more bags to carry besides my craft bag, my purse, and my small bag for clothing. It was good to get home, unpacked, and I even managed to get my laundry done before bedtime. All in all, a very good weekend!