how good it feels to be back home again

august 8 - we are currently at home again, and i am writing this at my oma and opa`s house. on tuesday we go to edmonton to see kairo. tonight, me and luke are having a sleepover at our grandma`s house, with our cousins. emma, julia, katrina, and samuel. for the past couple of days we have been driving for 14 hours every day, and have not slept in a tent for a very long time. we washed our car today. i miss my friends, even though i don`t want to leave manitoba. it is home for my heart, and my soul. i will be very sad when we leave. i wish that we lived here. i get exima in edmonton, because it is so dry there. it is nice and moist in the air here. i can`t wait till the cousins arrive at grandmas house. almost home.
anna.

And then we drove...and drove

August 5 - (John writing).  So we spent our last day in the Maritimes seeing our last two legislatures (Charlottetown and Fredericton) and then making our way in the US to begin the trek home.  Bought a GPS unit as we were tired of trying to use the iPhone with spotty coverage.  Then later today we stopped and bought an $8 atlas from Target....we were tired of not being sure where the dmned GPS unit was taking us!  Last night we stayed in Bangor, Maine and tonight we are sleeping every so briefly in Willoughby Ohio (I bet you've never stayed there before).  When you're driving 12 hours a day the diesel car sure is handy, only filling up once while we drive.  That means we drive from bathroom break to bathroom break so instead of measuring MPG or litres/100 km we measure PB/D.  Cheers.

Vacation Schedules

August 3 - John writing from Charlottetown

How do you schedule the time on your vacations?  We worked hard in preparing for this trip, trying to set it up so that we would not just be driving, sight-seeing, eating and sleeping.  So I planned for us to arrive at campsites/hotels by 3 in the afternoon, leaving us time to set-up camp/check-in, have dinner and then relax for the evening.  Well, almost five weeks into our trip and we have yet to experience the relax part.  It seems there is always something that puts us behind schedule, leaving us to scramble for a late supper and then get to bed late.  One thing we consistently seem to underestimate is the time it takes to feed a family of four.  We like to make/cook our own meals when we can, both to save money and because we prefer to eat that way, but that means planning ahead and taking the time to shop for groceries each day, as we can't store very much food while we travel.  And eating in restaurants is not always quick either, as it take time to find a good place in a strange town - a place that serves the variety of foods we seem to need, serves healthy foods (deep fryer free would be nice) and meets our budget.  For this reason we really enjoyed our time in Corner Brook where our friend Doreen Klassen either cooked for us or took us to her favourite places.  It meant we did not have to spend the time shopping/cooking or hunting for food, as she did or had done the work for us.  And to top it off, we ate healthy (or at least healthier) food for those days.
Of course sometimes the scheduling issues we've had relate to issues beyond our direct control.  The other day was a perfect example.  We left our campsite in St. Peter's, Nova Scotia (on Cape Breton island) at a good time in the morning, hoping to get to Charlottetown by mid-afternoon so we could set-up camp, have dinner and go to the Anne of Green Gables musical by 7:30 PM.  Google maps said the drive should take 3 hours and 49 minutes.  As they are usually quite generous with their time, we thought we would be fine.  The only problem is that this route involves taking a ferry and with our ferry experiences so far, we should have known better.  We couldn't make the 1:00 ferry but arrived in plenty of time for the 2:30 ferry, only to just miss getting on that boat so we had to wait for the 4:00 ferry which then turned into the 4:30 ferry which actually left just after 5:00 PM.  By now we knew we were going to have to hurry to get to the show on time at all, so we quickly booked a hotel in  Charlottetown, had supper on the ferry and made it to the show on time...but without the relax part of our day.
In case you haven't heard about our ferry experiences (we've now been on five ferry's/ferrys/ferries?)  On our way to Newfoundland we were scheduled to leave North Sydney at 1:30 AM.  That's late enough for a family that has developed a routine of being in bed by 10:30 while camping, but then we got the news that the ferry was delayed until 3:30...so we went to see a late movie (Toy Story 3 in 3D...not the best $50 we've spent on this trip!) and then fell asleep in our car in the ferry line-up.  The ferry didn't arrive in port until 3:30 and only left around 5:00 AM.  Then our 16 hour crossing took 17 hours and well, there went the relaxing evening we were supposed to have on our first day in Newfoundland.
On the return trip from Newfoundland we made the mistake of not checking the ferry schedule for updates before we left Corner Brook (2 hour drive to the ferry in Port au Basque).  When we arrived at the ferry dock we were told the ferry was delayed for 12 hours!  Our 2:15 PM ferry was now scheduled to leave at 2:15 AM...not good news.  We had the option of waiting in line in a parking lot for 6 hours on the chance we could get onto the 6:00 PM ferry, or return at 12:00 AM for our own ferry.  We decided to wait as stand-by for the 6:00 ferry and got on.  However, this still meant arriving in North Sydney after midnight, when originally we had been scheduled to arrive at 8:00 PM - another relaxing evening gone.  (oh by the way, if you are ever on Cape Breton Island during the August long weekend, book your hotel well in advance as there was literally NOTHING available.  I called a lot of hotels before I found a motel that had just received a cancellation).
So here's hoping that the final week of our trip sees us make good time in the morning and early afternoon, prepare our camp and food in the later afternoon and enjoy relaxing evenings all the way to Alberta.  Well we can hope can't we?

Anna of Green Gables

New Found Land

July 31 - (Wilma and Anna writing)  Just a quick  (or not so quick) blog to let you know we are still traveling.  We have just left Cornerbrook Newfoundland.   While in the Corner Brook area we drove to Gros Morne National Park.  Doreen Klassen, our very gracious host in Cornerbrook was with us.  We had a lovely lunch in the Park and then set out for our hike.   It was great to be active.  It felt like we hadn’t done much physical activity in the last few days.  It was raining lightly, and we were surprised  at how wet we got.  We saw a moose. Up close too. Then we saw a very tame squirrel, up close, eating a wiener. We feared for its life. We learned some interesting facts about marshes and things by the signs along the way. Some of us also thought there were to many boardwalks. As I mentioned the hike was soggy and when we arrived at the fjord, the view was non-existent due to  rain and fog.  We have seen some amazing pictures of the fjord though.  Yesterday was sunny (some people didn’t listen to Anna when she said that we should have done the hike yesterday) and we did another short hike near Corner Brook and got muddy again.  We actually jumped half a kilometer down a river, using only rocks to keep our shoes dry.  In the end, Anna (me) was the only one with completely dry feet.

We are waitig for the ferry back to the mainland tomorrow.  When we arrived at the ferry it was to discover our ride was DELAYED BY 12 HOURS!

  We are in line with a slim hope of getting on the 6pm ferry and not the 2:15 am ferry.  Our last province is Prince Edward Island. 

(all the boring sentences were not written by Anna.)

With our hosts in St. John's, Bill and Patti Clark.

(this is the view from their front yard!)

Quick "hello"

July 30 - (John here)  Just a quick "where ya 'at" from Newfoundland.  We are now in Corner Brook, on the West coast.  Had a GREAT time in and around St.John's, uneventful drive across the island, soggy hike in Gros Morne National Park and now relaxing and seeing the sights in Corner Brook.  However, we don't have access to internet (except for these few minutes) AND we don't have cell phone coverage here (time to expand your coverage Rogers?).  So we'll post a decent update in the next few days when we're in PEI.

Cheers

Travel update

July 25 - After Ottawa we enjoyed our camp ground at Quebec City.  Definitely worth knowing about if you plan to camp close to Quebec City at any time.  Clean new bathroom and laundry facilitities, snack bar, swimming pool with lifeguards, water front.  All for 28 dollars a night.  The sites are wooded.  Free bus ride to downtown Quebec.

We enjoyed seeing the sites in Quebec City, did A LOT of walking, including some walking in the rain at the end of the day.  Maple syrup pie anyone?

Finding relief in Quebec City (National Assembly in background)

We arrived with great relief at our first destination in the Maritimes on July 18;  a resort in St. Andrews by-the-sea.  We were all ready for a little rest and relaxation and found a beautiful spot on the Bay of Fundy in which to do just that.  Lots of time by the pool, reading, and a bit of golf.  Sleeping in some real beds (and Fairmont beds at that) was another relief we enjoyed.  Not that our Thermarests are uncomfortable, but this was sure better!

Fun in the Sun at the Fairmont Algonquin, St Andrews NB 

After three nights at a resort, we went back to our tent.  This time we spent one night near Hopewell Rocks, NB and had our first major rain-camping experience.  It rained most of the night and in the morning we had to take down our camp in a pouring rain.  I remember rains like this from Manitoba, but in Alberta we don’t get these rains – steady, pouring rain, soaking everything and everyone who might be trying to take down a tent!  Thankfully our next day and night in Halifax was sunny, breezy and dry so that all our gear was quickly dried out.  We continued our tour of provincial parliament buildings and found Nova Scotia’s to be the most unique to this point – smaller, more intimate, less security (“random” in Luke’s words).  We enjoyed that.

Playing in the Bay of Fundy

Then it was off to catch a ferry for Newfoundland, with enough time to see a large chunk of the Cabot Trail in the Cape Breton Highlands.  Perhaps we are becoming jaded by all of our travels and experiences, but we were uniformly disappointed by this.  Again, perhaps we are spoiled  or were too tired…

We arrived in Newfoundland last night.  The 16 hour ferry ride it self was uneventful (although it is amazing how little rocking motion on a boat can turn a prairie family green).  The ferry was originally scheduled to leave port in North Sydney, Nova Scotia at 1:30 am but was by this time delayed until at least 3:45 am.  This works out okay if these are day time hours but become a challenge when it is the middle of the night.  So using John’s iPhone we found the nearest movie theatre, and went to see Toy Story 3 in 3D, then drove back to sit in the ferry line up for a few hours.  The kids and I slept in the car as we waited.   By 3:45 we were able to climb into our bunks on the ferry to sleep. 

Today we spent our first day exploring St. John’s and surrounding area and wow, this place really is amazing.  I’m sure we’ll have more comments about it in a few days but for now we are thrilled to be here.  We’re staying with some friends just north of St. John’s, literally looking right onto the ocean from their front yard.  Cheers.

Relationship

Observations about traveling together…

July 25 - (Wilma writing) As we are regularly and for great lengths of time confined to small spaces together, we are experiencing a unique opportunity to evaluate relationships.  While it is not always easy to face our less appealing ways of relating to each other, the close quarters do offer us the opportunity to improve on our communicating abilities.  

You may think I am trying to find a gentle way to say we cannot stand each other any more.  This is certainly not the case, we are embracing the learning opportunity afforded us through this travel adventure:  We are developing a greater appreciation for each other and understanding the implications, each in our own way, of how our relating style influences the response of the others.  It is stretching us, but in a positive way.  

Car games

July 19, Fairmont Algonquin Resort, NB

So I'm sure many of you have your favourite games to play in the car, when you're travelling a long distance and need a way to pass the time.  Not only do they help to pass the time, they can be a great way to interact with each other in the car.  Between reading books, listening to music and watching movies, there are a lot of ways to pass time in the car without interacting.  Here's a sample from a game we played the other day, driving to Quebec City from Ottawa.  Each person in turn gets to add one word to a sentence, making some attempt to connect ideas.  As you may notice from this example, we had recently heard a story (Anne of Green Gables) that addressed the use of the colon...not sure we quite managed it, but heh, you try doing that as a group effort!

"Twas the morning after Easter that Egg awoke to cracking noises.  She thanked the Lucky Duckling for being quiet.  Franklin didn't appreciate the messiness of the door.  Towering over Seattle, with its gore-ish light was the Lucky Duckling: standing than all eggs was a lucky, smallish duckling.  However, it being fat, the smallish Lucky Duckling found it was fat, and although he loved all smallish, fat ducklings, he couldn't bring flowers.  Houses interrupted CBC signals during his ear training exercises.  Coffee Pot [a reference to another car game we play] (plurally) and greyish, brown, green tea was better, although never quite clean.  On December 1956, Martians became fat persons (humanoid) with perogies as their main food source: perogies were what they ate.  Vehicular movement confused lucky Martians of humanoid ducklings.  Mazda, the cleanest car thing that ate lucky, smallish Martians with lucky, rotund ducklings, was poised on the CN pool diving Subway (eat fresh) board.  Tent lights notoriously caused serious vehicular confusion:  having caused vehicles to become confused, when tent lights were on.  Trains crashed silently through white mosquito infested bushes, causing vehicular and earrings with jewels to jump.  French Martians talked."

Hmmm, doesn't make any sense to me either, but I do hear a number of references to items from our trip.  How many can you find?

   Everyone needs some of these travelling pics - don't they?

Wilma driving, Luke 'n Anna watching a movie.