How We Met
How does a former Mainer, now living in San Diego, hook up with a babe born in Vancouver while she's living in Whistler, British Columbia? We thought you might ask.

Since our interpretations vary on a few points, we present the story from two unique perspectives. First, the real story and then a re-telling through the distorted eyes of a man.

Kat's Story
I met Rodney in the small ski-resort Village of Whistler while I was living there. Rodney was on a ski vacation with his buddy Will, and my friend Carmen and I encountered them in a t-shirt boutique one rainy weekend. I was shopping for a hat to take with me on my upcoming road trip to the Southwest - they were killing time in the village while it was raining on the ski hill.

The boys soon approached us, but I became anxious to vacate the store upon discovery that they were American tourists (or 'tourons' as locals affectionately like to refer to them). However, they seemed bent on engaging us in conversation, so I did my best to politely answer their queries. Rodney pressed us to give up the name of a good bar to attend that evening. Much to Rodney's dissatisfaction, I replied with "oh, they're all pretty good."

"How about you name one for us." The persistent dog retorted.

"Hmm. Well, that one over there, the Brew Pub, it's pretty good." I said in an attempt to placate him, while pointing to a nearby building.

"OK, well maybe we'll see you there tonight." Rodney gestured, as Carmen and I exited the store.

"Not bloody likely." I muttered under my breath, not quite out of earshot of the two American tourons.

Carmen and I continued to the next store in the village. About half-way there, we stopped in our tracks and uttered to one another, "They're kind of cute, aren't they?" Yes, we agreed. They are.

"OK, well how about you go back there and ask them if they want to buy us a coffee?" I suggested to Carmen, fully expecting her to tell me to go do it myself. Much to my surprise, she obliged.

That is how we found ourselves drinking coffee with Rodney and Will near 30 minutes later. We discovered very little about Will as Rodney belligerently dominated the conversation. Rather full of himself, I thought to myself. Still, he does have somewhat interesting things to say, and he does occasionally shut up to allow me to answer his questions. Hmm, warrants further investigation.

Carmen and I arranged to reunite with the boys after dinner at the Dubh Linn Gate Irish Pub. Persuading another friend of ours, Jules, to join us, we met up with Rodney and Will and proceeded to drink them under the table. Once we had shut down all the bars, we continued our soiree in Rodney and Will's hotel room, after being enticed by Rodney's Californian wine supply.

We made quick work of depleting the wine and took our leave much to the crushing dismay of Rodney & Will, who were convinced they were getting laid that night.

We exchanged business cards, not knowing if the enchanting conversations that had flowed all night would ever be repeated (well they seemed enchanting at the time, but, of course, much of the world seems that way when one is inebriated). Rodney and Will were leaving for San Diego in the morning, making the likelyhood of a recurrance very faint indeed.

We all know I hadn't seen the last of these boys.

But it might have been the last of them had I not received an email from Rodney a few days later. He knew I planned to visit the Southwest and invited me to stay at his house during my travels. At this point I was hesitant to do so, since I had only met him that one time and we Canadians are wary of Americans at the best of times.

Needless to say, I wound up spending a few nights at his house in Oceanside. OK, so it was a week. The damned bamboozler kept coming up with new fun things to do every day. After a few days of taking in the sights of San Diego, being treated to some mighty fine cooking and lapping up the fine weather, I thought it best to move on lest I be stuck in Oceanside forever.

DAY 4
Kat: "I'm leaving tomorrow. I have a date with an epiphany at the Grand Canyon."

Rodney: "Oh. But you can't go tomorrow because I planned for us to go to the LA County Museum."

Kat to herself: 'Damn this guy is good. Maybe he was listening when I was blabbing about museums.' Out loud: "Oh, wow, that sounds fun. OK, maybe I'll stay one more day."

DAY 5
Kat: "I'm leaving tomorrow. I have a date with an epiphany at the Grand Canyon."

Rodney: "Oh. But you can't go tomorrow, because I organized for us to go horseback riding in Paradise Valley."

Kat to herself: 'Damn this guy is good. Maybe he was listening when I was blabbing about horses.' Out loud: "Oh, wow, that sounds fun. OK, maybe I'll stay one more day."

DAY 6
Kat: "I'm leaving tomorrow. I have a date with an epiphany at the Grand Canyon."

Rodney: "Oh. But you can't go tomorrow, because I thought maybe we could go hot-air ballooning."

Kat to herself: 'Damn this guy is really, really good.' Out loud: "Oh, wow, that sounds fun. OK, maybe I'll stay one more day."

Except on DAY 7, it rained. Actually, it poured with the vengeance of a tropical rainstorm. So we didn't go hot air ballooning and I took it as a sign to get a move on. After all, I had a date with an epiphany at the Grand Canyon (which is another story for another website).

So I continued my driving tour of the Southwest and wound up back at home in Whistler. By then the damage had been done - I wanted to visit with Rodney again, so I convinced him to come visit me in Whistler.

Thus the LONG commute started. We'd alternate traversing the distance (Total Est. Driving Time:  23 hours, 2 minutes. Total Est. Distance:  1443.47 miles / 2323.04 kilometers). Actually we flew, rather than drove, but even so it didn't take long for us to tire of that routine and long for something less exhausting (not to mention expensive).

I was working from home at the time, as a freelance web designer, so we figured the easiest thing for us to do would be for me to pack up some clothes and my computer and drive on down to Oceanside. It's a pretty simple drive - just get on the I-5 and head south until you hit Oceanside Blvd. Then it's a left, and another left onto South Barnwell Street.

Upon my arrival, Rodney drew me a hot bath and said "Welcome home, baby." And I've been home ever since.

Rodney's Version
I saw Kat and she looked hot. I wanted to get laid, so I conjured up some charm and managed to bamboozle her into falling for me. After that it didn't take long for her to move to Oceanside. It's all good.