One of the benefits of growing up as an MK (missionary's kid) is that we moved around a lot when I was growing up. The most rural place we ever lived was a pretty little settlement called 108 Mile Ranch.
"The 108", as it's called in local nomenclature, is located a couple hundred miles north of the US border in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The main town of the area, 100 Mile House, got its name because it was 100 miles up the BC gold rush trail that started in the town of Lillooet. I'm sure you can figure out where the 108 got its name (and approx. how far it is from 100 Mile House). To give you an idea of how very rural the 108 is, its Wikipedia page boasts as one of its main tourist attractions that it has the largest barn in Canada.
No matter how many years since then that I've lived in the city (or the suburbs of a big city), there's still a little bit of a country boy in me. I'll crank up the country and western music while cruising down the SoCal freeways. I can drive a snowmobile with the best of them. I've developed a disdain for thin American beers but love the taste of those Canadian brews (check out the video below for a insight into the cultural pride of beer-drinking Canadians). Not a few of my weekends as a teenager involved dirt roads and pickup trucks.
And, in the Hallmark style of a Canadian country boy, I'm getting married to a beautiful Canadian country lass (who actually also fits in perfectly in Orange County. Who knew?).
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