Epilogue: What's so great about Canada

Here are, looking back, 10 things that make Canada special, different and worth visiting and getting to know:

• In Vancouver, the taxi that took me from the airport to my hotel was a hybrid -- as are most taxis in Vancouver.
• Bearproof garbage cans in Whistler and Banff, and the widespread availability of trash receptacles that are also recyclables receptacles. Would this be too hard in the States? Canada seems to manage it. One woman I spoke to even told me that the social pressure to be green is so great that she would rather carry an empty plastic water bottle around than be seen tossing it into an ordinary garbage can and not a recycling bin.
• The bus in Vancouver with the electronic destination sign on its front that said, "NOT IN SERVICE," and then, "SORRY."
• A nude bicycle parade in Toronto (which I missed!) with police protection to stop traffic.
• The Opus Hotel in Vancouver, and possibly others, offers free parking for hybrid or other small-carbon-footprint vehicles.
• Tim Horton's. Everywhere.
• Loonies and Twonies. Not because they're one- and two-dollar coins and that's better than bills (I'm not sure that's true), but because the names are so cute and have caught on so universally.
• Beer. Lovely beer.
• The national sport isn't what you think. It's lacrosse. Despite that, the theme music to "Hockey Night in Canada" is considered a second national anthem.
• Joual. It's the French dialect spoken by the Quebecois, and if you learned textbook Parisian French, it's endlessly fascinating to identify all the ways pronunciation differs. Having almost every public sign written in two languages is also entertaining and educational.

I miss it already and can't wait to get back. But first, I need to go someplace dull and quiet to rest up for a while.

The Rule of Three dictates that you won't get any sense of closure until I tell you I had lunch with Joff the Wandering Kiwi in Toronto the day I left. He is still working his way eastward toward Halifax and was settling in in Toronto just as I was packing up.

I'm so jealous. I love the Maritimes ...