Monique....sorry I didn't get to answer you until now. I was checking out how to get here from Montreal. We once flew with Iberia Airlines scheduled flight from Montreal to Madrid and then from Madrid we connected with a flight to Tenerife. But as we go to the west coast of Canada when we come over there, we fly first up to London and then next day fly the over-the-pole route down to Vancouver. You would fly the trans-Atlantic route as you're over on the east side. Best would be checking out with your local newspapers or travel agents as I have seen charter flights to the Canary Islands advertised in Canadian papers and the prices would include hotel and transfers. I think British Airways also has scheduled flights from Montreal to Madrid for a non-charter trip. There are also flights from Seville and Barcelona to the Canary Islands but Madrid is a main flight centre with flights coming in from all the world and many daily flights to any of the Canary Islands. There are seven islands and most are geared to accomodate tourism. Largest island is Tenerife which has two different climate zones - the south is hot and dry - many beaches and the north (where we live) is cooler and greener, also with beaches but possibility of some rain in January. High holiday season here is from late October to end of the carnival season usually mid February. The south of this island is now heavily developed with golf courses and extravagant hotels that rival Las Vegas in their usage of marble and Roman statues LOL. But there are hotels and holiday apartments of every type and price. The island of Gran Canaria (capital Las Palmas) is also very popular. More exotic is Lanzarote, with its sand dunes (rides on camels), fire mountain and stark barren landscape. This is the island closest to the African coast. Then there's also close to the African coast, with long white sandy beaches. La Gomera is one of the beautiful smaller islands, as is La Palma another smaller island where world class astrophysical observatories have been built to study the sun and stars. I imagine if you are in Montreal in January, you'd be craving warm sun and beaches ! Pick up some brochures from your travel agent and browse through them a bit, or do a Google images search and you'll find some beautiful suggestions. I'm happy to answer any questions :-). SharonCb

Malls are definitely not on their way out around me, in suburban DC/Baltimore. Where I live, in a large tourist town, we have our downtown/Main Street shopping district with its touristy shops, boutiques and restaurants. Unfortunately high rents and parking issues mean lots of turnover and some businesses fleeing to our huge mall a few miles away, as well as a Towne Center (funny it's called that b/c it's not the center of town!) just down the road from the mall and an additional large strip mall another few blocks from there. Our mall has been around since my childhood and has expanded several times in the last 30 years. The anchor stores are Nordstrom, Lord & Taylor, JCP, Macy's and Sears. It also includes Crate and Barrel and all three Pottery Barns. I almost never go to the mall though my teenagers do. Not to hang out - my dd17 loves to shop and ds16 will meet friends for a movie. Our Towne Center is huge as well with a high rise high end condo complex as well as Whole Foods, Target and stores like lulu lemon, and Anthropologie and numerous restaurants. Kohl's is a stand alone store across the road from there, then TJ MAXX is at another strip mall across from the Towne Center. A couple of blocks from these shopping areas is yet another large strip mall with Nordstrom Rack, Barnes and Noble, Fresh Market and a movie theater as its anchor stores. I used to love shopping but since having kids, it's more of a burden. When I do shop, I tend to hit the strip malls rather than the huge mall b/c I typically just want to go to one or two stores and then flee. ;). I rarely buy shoes or clothes online b/c I need to try them on first. I will if I already have the item and just want a replacement, or it's something where I know the fit won't be an issue. I do often buy my kids clothes online, esp my boys. I do use Amazon Prime but not really for clothes or shoes. I also try to buy from locally owned stores as much as I can. But all that said, I don't see our mall going belly up anytime soon. Our anchor stores never seem to be the ones to close when retailers announce they are closing some of their locations.

Just no point, silly Karl Benz who was bailed out by Bertha twice with her wealth, once before marriage and again after when her money could of better been used on humanitarian causes instead of supporting a tinkering man. Since Karl just wanted to tinker with toys and ended up owning a bicycle shop he just continued to waste their money on another useless toy horseless carriage contraption, and some people just can't grow up. What was the point of Susan Wright, the daughter of a skilled carriage maker who was very mechanically skilled herself teach her skills to Wilbur and Orville? All they did was build a useless flying contraption and could of better used their skills to build a better carriage to transport orphans with disabilities to Dad's church, go figure. I see a point and do believe something important may come from a bunch of rich people tinkering with their money. If all through history everyone had the same mind set I see expressed here I do believe we'd all be walking and can't stop shaking my head. For what it's worth the latest Space X flight raised over 160 million dollars for Saint Jude. Still see no point?

a couple of them had little shepherd's hooks & a few had lassos. NOT. they weren't concerned with our presence. the calf was a bucket calf so she was used to being handled & was tame so i didn't have to chase her. i had a call i used when i put grain on the cattle. when i'd call they's run to the fence where i stood. i gave that call as i slowly walked to the calf to put a lead on it & she was walking towards me as well. there was a parting of the waters effect as we approached each other. they backed away & cleared a path but did not fly off. i pay attention to wildlife but no one could have missed this. i was the carpenter general foreman on the creve couer lake bridge in st louis county, mo. it sits along the missouri river, a major flyway. there was a marshy area at the end of the lake & a lot of water birds hung out. one morning there were 4 whooping cranes. i kept a log & saw over 200 varieties of birds during the 2 years that job ran. ever seen a mob of pelicans fly over. it's a sight. they drift on thermals so there's no military like v pattern. they drift in large circular patterns in a general direction. i've seen it several times since. these were the black & white ones & they are common along the mississippi & illinois rivers.