We spent time outside in the morning, playing in the pool and with all the toys outside. It was a beautiful morning and it was great to see our friends! (I'm so excited about all the potential for pen pals for the kids from this trip!)
We left around 11 and drove the 2 hours to Ottawa. On our last trip through we missed the Parliament Tour and I erased our photos from the city, so we really wanted to go back. We parked downtown and immediately noticed how many more people there were strolling the streets of Ottawa this hot day in late August, compared to the post-thunder shower day in late June on our previous trip.
As we walked up to Parliament Hill we passed by the Ottawa Locks on the Rideau Canal and were just in time to watch them guide someone's boat through. Not only was it fun and interesting to watch but the boat pilot had a parrot! Okay, that's not really that exciting but the kids though it was funny, like he was a yacht pirate or something!
We made it exactly on time for a tour (which are first come first served and run 4 times an hour for free) so into the Parliment we went. It was really gorgeous inside, a lot of amazing stone work and stained glass. The library was beautiful and we learned lots about the House of Commons and the Senate (most notably that Royalty cannot enter the house of Commons and could lose their heads if they do! =) Always the fun facts...) We ended the tour with a trip up to the clock in the Peace Tower and then a look at the memorial books.
From there Mattea was at the end of her rope and we needed to get going, so we walked back down to the car and drove out of the city passing by the Prime Minister's house at 24 Sussex Dr.
From Ottawa we just wanted to get going and see how far we'd get. We weren't sure if we'd make our way back to Quebec City or not so we just started in the general direction. We did end up bypassing it, going on the south side of the river and stopping just across for the night.
This is a beautiful spot, if anyone is interested... we're at the Hotel Bernieres, in Saint-Nicholas.
Today (the 28th) we are setting a course for New Brunswick. I don't know if we'll make it all the way to Moncton but we're hoping to catch the Hopewell Rocks this time around.
Showing posts with label Ontario. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ontario. Show all posts
Thursday, August 28, 2008
TORONTO TO KINGSTON - AUG 26
We hit a bit of a kink in the plan this week and had to take our van in for servicing in Oakville. the breaks were seized so it was definitely something that needed to be dealt with. We spent the morning playing and doing laundry before heading into Toronto, $1000 poor-er because of the van.
We parked downtown and tried to do a tour of the CN Tour but the line was really long and we only had so much time. We took pictures and touched it... then walked to the Hockey Hall of Fame. There was way more to see and do there than we expected and all the kids were thrilled to be able to touch the Stanley Cup! Even the building, an old bank, was stunning.
Walking around downtown was fun, I love the big cities, but Barton does not so he couldn't get out fast enough! We drove out via a visit with some friends that moved to TO in June. They've had a baby since so it was awesome to have a very quick catch-up and a little cuddle.
Out of Toronto, we drove 2 hours to Kingston where we stayed again with friends that just moved here.
We parked downtown and tried to do a tour of the CN Tour but the line was really long and we only had so much time. We took pictures and touched it... then walked to the Hockey Hall of Fame. There was way more to see and do there than we expected and all the kids were thrilled to be able to touch the Stanley Cup! Even the building, an old bank, was stunning.
Walking around downtown was fun, I love the big cities, but Barton does not so he couldn't get out fast enough! We drove out via a visit with some friends that moved to TO in June. They've had a baby since so it was awesome to have a very quick catch-up and a little cuddle.
Out of Toronto, we drove 2 hours to Kingston where we stayed again with friends that just moved here.
INDIANA TO MICHIGAN TO ONTARIO – AUG 25
After breakfast at the hotel we were en route again, heading for Michigan, which would take us up past Detroit towards the border. It was a beautiful drive without incident with really pretty landscapes that are all very much like the Canadian prairies. A few more roadside runabouts and a stop at the Target in Flint, Michigan and we were all of a sudden crossing the bridge over Lake Huron into Sarnia, Ontario! Back into Canada with another smooth border crossing!
So, we’ve got quite the collection of maps going! Do you need a map? We have now been through 10 provinces and 7 states, including our shopping trip to Washington… but we didn’t get a map!
We stopped in Sarnia at the beach on Lake Huron... we were meant to dip our feet but somehow (are you shocked?!) both boys ended up soaked and covered in sand!
We made our way back to Oakville, Ontario where we stayed again with our cousins there.
So, we’ve got quite the collection of maps going! Do you need a map? We have now been through 10 provinces and 7 states, including our shopping trip to Washington… but we didn’t get a map!
We stopped in Sarnia at the beach on Lake Huron... we were meant to dip our feet but somehow (are you shocked?!) both boys ended up soaked and covered in sand!
We made our way back to Oakville, Ontario where we stayed again with our cousins there.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Dryden to Winnipeg - June 29
We found a warm place to lay our heads and even go for a swim at the Best Western in Dryden. Definitely not the ‘best’ western but hey, we can’t complain right? We left there in the am after breakfast and a swim. The landscape changed again dramatically after Dryden, tapering into rolling hills and then very flat plains. It was very green though, and quite beautiful. We crossed the border into Manitoba and I was very excited to have a flood of good memories from many childhood summers spent there. Falcon Lake, Bird’s Hill Park, Portage Place, The Forks etc. We went straight to Barton’s sister’s house where she and his parents were working hard renovating and gardening. It was another hot day and the kids were very excited to hear that the following day, the park across the street would open their water park for the summer. We brought down the kids bikes and they went for a bike around the neighbourhood and along the Red River. We ate dinner at the house where my inlaws were staying and stayed the night there with them. It’s a beautiful house with a yard that slopes down to the Red River, where you can watch paddle wheelers and motor boats go past. After dinner, a few of Becky’s friends joined us for dessert and it was really great to meet some of her friends and we feel very reassured that while she’s far away from family, she’s in very kind and loving hands.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Drive to Dryden, June 28
Once again we had a breakfast feast (I know, you want their number don’t you?!) and then we found ourselves packing once more. It was pouring rain so that made packing a little more difficult.
We left Manitouwadge heading towards Manitoba. Manitouwadge is 40 minutes off the highway and then about 3.5 hours east of Thunder Bay. It’s a beautiful drive all the way through Ontario, but it’s been slow going since we left the TO area. The speed limit is often 70-90 and there is so much construction. So, it was slow again along this route. The last 100kms before Thunder Bay are called the Courage Highway, a monument to Terry Fox, whose journey ended there. At Thunder Bay you hit the shores of Lake Superior and once again, it’s massive and beautiful. We stopped to dip our feet, it was more accessible than Lake Ontario, and took some photos. It is quite incredible that you can drive for hours and still be along its shores.
The landscape changes dramatically after Thunder Bay. Throughout the former portions of Ontario it actually slightly resembled Newfoundland with a lot of jagged rock and brushy forests. The trees are bigger of course and there seems to be more variety, but it has that very rugged feel, not lush like the Mainland Atlantic Provinces. Immediately after Thunder Bay the rock disappeared and the trees became more sparse, the fields more bare and the ground looks quite marshy.
Along this stretch we entered the “Arctic Watershed” which means that all the rivers and lakes after that point drain North into the Arctic Ocean, which is kind of cool. And then we passed the Central Standard Time Zone line so we moved our clocks back. We joked to the kids that we had gone back in time and that any mistakes they had made over the past hour could be redone - The Thiessen Time Machine - they took us a bit too seriously for a minute! We are now 2 hours ahead of BC and 2.5 hours behind Newfoundland.
Around 9pm we were treated to perhaps the most incredible sunset I’ve seen. Because we’re so far North and travelling West we seem to be chasing it and it doesn’t quite want to go away. That’s fine with us, it’s a beautiful driving back drop… or front drop I guess.
Our moose count is climbing! The moose here seem to be much darker and if possible, even bigger, than those in Newfoundland. I don’t know if that’s a seasonal thing, like molting or something, but they’re pretty tough to see. Only one was on the road - that was on the stretch to Manitouwadge. He was taking his merry time across the road, but they are almost impossible to photograph.
So, as it stands it’s 9:48pm and we’re about 50km from Dryden. We had initially planned to stop in Kenora but we’re aiming for Dryden instead. Actually, I think the itinerary says Upsala but we’re a few hours past that. Man, there is NOTHING up here. It’s so big and open and beautiful. The sun is still trying to set, the road is long and even. If I was sitting on a clock I could say that I see the sunset from 10 o’clock to 5 o’clock, almost all the way around me. It only recently stopped raining, lots of rain today. We lost our ‘moose mangler’ because I had to stop and attempt photos of the sunset. There’s no one else out here. Three quarters of the kids are sleeping and the temptation to plug on to Winnipeg comes again. We are so excited to get to Winnipeg (yes, that’s right, excited to get to Winnipeg!). Barton’s sister is there and his parents are visiting her as well! But, we’ll stop … There’s a sign, 48km to go.
We left Manitouwadge heading towards Manitoba. Manitouwadge is 40 minutes off the highway and then about 3.5 hours east of Thunder Bay. It’s a beautiful drive all the way through Ontario, but it’s been slow going since we left the TO area. The speed limit is often 70-90 and there is so much construction. So, it was slow again along this route. The last 100kms before Thunder Bay are called the Courage Highway, a monument to Terry Fox, whose journey ended there. At Thunder Bay you hit the shores of Lake Superior and once again, it’s massive and beautiful. We stopped to dip our feet, it was more accessible than Lake Ontario, and took some photos. It is quite incredible that you can drive for hours and still be along its shores.
The landscape changes dramatically after Thunder Bay. Throughout the former portions of Ontario it actually slightly resembled Newfoundland with a lot of jagged rock and brushy forests. The trees are bigger of course and there seems to be more variety, but it has that very rugged feel, not lush like the Mainland Atlantic Provinces. Immediately after Thunder Bay the rock disappeared and the trees became more sparse, the fields more bare and the ground looks quite marshy.
Along this stretch we entered the “Arctic Watershed” which means that all the rivers and lakes after that point drain North into the Arctic Ocean, which is kind of cool. And then we passed the Central Standard Time Zone line so we moved our clocks back. We joked to the kids that we had gone back in time and that any mistakes they had made over the past hour could be redone - The Thiessen Time Machine - they took us a bit too seriously for a minute! We are now 2 hours ahead of BC and 2.5 hours behind Newfoundland.
Around 9pm we were treated to perhaps the most incredible sunset I’ve seen. Because we’re so far North and travelling West we seem to be chasing it and it doesn’t quite want to go away. That’s fine with us, it’s a beautiful driving back drop… or front drop I guess.
Our moose count is climbing! The moose here seem to be much darker and if possible, even bigger, than those in Newfoundland. I don’t know if that’s a seasonal thing, like molting or something, but they’re pretty tough to see. Only one was on the road - that was on the stretch to Manitouwadge. He was taking his merry time across the road, but they are almost impossible to photograph.
So, as it stands it’s 9:48pm and we’re about 50km from Dryden. We had initially planned to stop in Kenora but we’re aiming for Dryden instead. Actually, I think the itinerary says Upsala but we’re a few hours past that. Man, there is NOTHING up here. It’s so big and open and beautiful. The sun is still trying to set, the road is long and even. If I was sitting on a clock I could say that I see the sunset from 10 o’clock to 5 o’clock, almost all the way around me. It only recently stopped raining, lots of rain today. We lost our ‘moose mangler’ because I had to stop and attempt photos of the sunset. There’s no one else out here. Three quarters of the kids are sleeping and the temptation to plug on to Winnipeg comes again. We are so excited to get to Winnipeg (yes, that’s right, excited to get to Winnipeg!). Barton’s sister is there and his parents are visiting her as well! But, we’ll stop … There’s a sign, 48km to go.
Manitouwadge, June 26 and 27
Our stay in Niagara was unfortunately very short. The morning, as always, came too early and we were eating breakfast and repacking once more! I can’t wait until we can go awhile without repacking our bags every single day. I must say that we are getting much more efficient and knowing what I know now, I definitely would have packed differently.
We took off once more for the longest stretch of our journey – 15 hours to Manitouwadge, Ontario, to stay with friends there. Our intention was to get to about Blind River, part way between Sudbury and Sioux St Marie, which is a pretty long day of driving but would make the next day a little shorter. We actually made it “The Sioux” and were faced with the dilemma of stopping or ploughing on. The drive would be another 5 hours, but the kids were falling asleep and it would mean having the entire next day to relax and play. Stopping would mean spending on a hotel and then not getting out to our destination until probably 3pm the next day. *Some people* have a hard time getting up in the morning and then there’s breakfast and repacking so it’s usually 10 before we can pull away. We called Jeremy and Loreal, our friends there, and decided that since we would be staying in the house next door and not disturbing anyone showing up in the middle of the night, we would plough on. I of course got the wickedly foggy stretch! Barton took over just before Wawa and at 3:40 am, 15 hours plus rest stops after leaving Niagara Falls, we pulled into Manitouwadge. We found the house no problem and crawled like dying turtles into our beds.
We were treated to a pancake feast the following morning with Loreal and their 5 adorable boys. Us girls were fairly outnumbered and had to stick together! It was already scorching and the boys dragged Barton out for a bike ride. The little ones were left behind and Loreal and I visited and played. The boys showed up a few hours later soaking wet and waving their underwear like white flags. They had gone to a bike park and somehow ended up swimming in the local lake. Barton made them all tie their underwear to their handlebars, so they fashioned themselves a bit of a gang. We had some lunch and naps and headed back to the beach with the whole group for a swim. The boys, in typical boy fashion found some mud… it started innocently with just a few rocks tossed in. You know what’s coming right? Then they moved in a little… eventually every single boy plus a few locals were covered head to toe in black mud. Once everyone had been thrown into the lake and made their way back home, Jeremy showed up with BBQ. The bugs were quite bad so everyone was nursing some constellation of bites on their bodies. We had a great evening playing, visiting and more of the same in the morning.
We took off once more for the longest stretch of our journey – 15 hours to Manitouwadge, Ontario, to stay with friends there. Our intention was to get to about Blind River, part way between Sudbury and Sioux St Marie, which is a pretty long day of driving but would make the next day a little shorter. We actually made it “The Sioux” and were faced with the dilemma of stopping or ploughing on. The drive would be another 5 hours, but the kids were falling asleep and it would mean having the entire next day to relax and play. Stopping would mean spending on a hotel and then not getting out to our destination until probably 3pm the next day. *Some people* have a hard time getting up in the morning and then there’s breakfast and repacking so it’s usually 10 before we can pull away. We called Jeremy and Loreal, our friends there, and decided that since we would be staying in the house next door and not disturbing anyone showing up in the middle of the night, we would plough on. I of course got the wickedly foggy stretch! Barton took over just before Wawa and at 3:40 am, 15 hours plus rest stops after leaving Niagara Falls, we pulled into Manitouwadge. We found the house no problem and crawled like dying turtles into our beds.
We were treated to a pancake feast the following morning with Loreal and their 5 adorable boys. Us girls were fairly outnumbered and had to stick together! It was already scorching and the boys dragged Barton out for a bike ride. The little ones were left behind and Loreal and I visited and played. The boys showed up a few hours later soaking wet and waving their underwear like white flags. They had gone to a bike park and somehow ended up swimming in the local lake. Barton made them all tie their underwear to their handlebars, so they fashioned themselves a bit of a gang. We had some lunch and naps and headed back to the beach with the whole group for a swim. The boys, in typical boy fashion found some mud… it started innocently with just a few rocks tossed in. You know what’s coming right? Then they moved in a little… eventually every single boy plus a few locals were covered head to toe in black mud. Once everyone had been thrown into the lake and made their way back home, Jeremy showed up with BBQ. The bugs were quite bad so everyone was nursing some constellation of bites on their bodies. We had a great evening playing, visiting and more of the same in the morning.
Niagara Falls and St Catherine's, June 25
I am starting to completely lose track of time… I am having a lot of trouble remembering what the day is and where we are in our schedule!!! I think that we’re a bit ahead of time which is actually good because Barton would like to be in BC a bit earlier than we had initially planned. We’ll see how it goes but at least now we do have some time flexibility along the way.
We had a pretty relaxed morning on the 24th. I spent some time uploading photos, we did laundry and packed. The kids played with the cousins a bit more (they got to stay home from school another morning!) and were introduced to Rock Band... it was so great to get to know this family and hopefully we can keep in touch!
We left Oakville around 2pm and set a course for Niagara Falls. It was a leisurely drive as we were already outside of Toronto. We drove along Lake Ontario for awhile and had to work pretty hard to convince the kids that it was actually a lake, not the ocean as it looked.
Niagara was incredible of course. We were told by many that they ‘only’ way to see it was on the Maid of the Mist so we did. It was awesome, we got soaked and got an up close and personal look, it’s quite shocking really, how much water is there. The day was scorching so that was perfect. We walked around a bit and then headed up to my Uncle and Aunt’s in St Catherine’s.
We arrived just in time for supper, but put it off a bit so that everyone could take a dip in the pool. What a great day! We feasted on chicken, corn cobs and baked potatoes, with cold Pepsi and then ice cream with strawberries for dessert. That meal had ‘Baerg’ written all over it! I am 30 years old and this was my first time to their house, terrible I know. It was wonderful to finally see them there and my cousin joined us too from Hamilton. (but she’s not ‘from’ Hamilton, I’m sure she’d like me to clarify for you…) The older kids got to sleep in the tent trailer while we slept with Mattea in the house. We are so thankful for the blessing of so many beds and roofs provided for us on this trip!
We had a pretty relaxed morning on the 24th. I spent some time uploading photos, we did laundry and packed. The kids played with the cousins a bit more (they got to stay home from school another morning!) and were introduced to Rock Band... it was so great to get to know this family and hopefully we can keep in touch!
We left Oakville around 2pm and set a course for Niagara Falls. It was a leisurely drive as we were already outside of Toronto. We drove along Lake Ontario for awhile and had to work pretty hard to convince the kids that it was actually a lake, not the ocean as it looked.
Niagara was incredible of course. We were told by many that they ‘only’ way to see it was on the Maid of the Mist so we did. It was awesome, we got soaked and got an up close and personal look, it’s quite shocking really, how much water is there. The day was scorching so that was perfect. We walked around a bit and then headed up to my Uncle and Aunt’s in St Catherine’s.
We arrived just in time for supper, but put it off a bit so that everyone could take a dip in the pool. What a great day! We feasted on chicken, corn cobs and baked potatoes, with cold Pepsi and then ice cream with strawberries for dessert. That meal had ‘Baerg’ written all over it! I am 30 years old and this was my first time to their house, terrible I know. It was wonderful to finally see them there and my cousin joined us too from Hamilton. (but she’s not ‘from’ Hamilton, I’m sure she’d like me to clarify for you…) The older kids got to sleep in the tent trailer while we slept with Mattea in the house. We are so thankful for the blessing of so many beds and roofs provided for us on this trip!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Toronto, June 24th
Well, of course as we packed up the tent in Ottawa, it started to rain again. With a bag full of wet, sandy clothes and a soaking packed tent, we took off for Toronto. We had hoped to stop in Kingston to meet up with some friends from NL but we were unable to make the connection.
It was a long day of driving straight through to Toronto, but it was beautiful. We had the full gamut of weather, starting with thunder showers and more lightning followed by hot sun and finishing with more rain in Toronto. Unfortunately, during this ride I realized that, to make a long story short, I deleted my photos of us at the Parliment Buildings in Ottawa. I was really upset, but it's turned into one more reason to come back this way on our return trip home (as opposed to through the States.) We'll see, there's lots of time to make that decision.
It was lots of fun pulling into the outer limits of Toronto waiting to catch a glimpse of the CN Tower. Many times the kids thought they saw it but it turned out to be a crane or water tower. Finally, there it was! We had arrived in the big T.O!
We zipped through on 7 lane highways and made our way past into Oakville where Barton's cousins live. We thoroughly enjoyed the city limit signs through the different suburbs, figuring out how the populations compared to ours at home. Mississauga has more people than all of Newfoundland and Labrador, while the 'smaller' suburb of Oakville still has more than St John's. Every few exits was a new city, with still more people than we've seen in a very long time! Even so, the traffic was great coming in and we arrived just before 10pm.
Once again, we were welcomed in by a generous family! Don and Brenda and their four kids let us take over their basement. We were up pretty late catching up and then crashed like never before. When we got up this morning, the kids said they had had the best sleep EVER (of the trip). We ate breakfast on the porch and watched Barton and the kids set up the tent to dry it out. We threw in some laundry and packed up for Canada's Wonderland.
Though our drive to Wonderland was stunted by a bit of a 'traffic issue', we arrived at lunch time to Wonderland and the kids began their day of speed-demon ride obsession. The lines were pretty long but they got a few good runs in before a quick lunch and the water-parking it for the afternoon. Then it was back to more rides for late the afternoon and evening when we shut the park down at 10:30pm. We almost all took a turn on the new ride "Behemoth" (me too!) (http://behemoth.canadaswonderland.com/public/fun/videos.cfm) and a few others became faves. Nikolai loved "Dragon Fire" and rode it by himself at the end of the day. He and cousin Adrianna are the same age and had a great time in the kids area, while the bigger kids rode the rides with higher height restrictions. It was a fantastic day with a huge gang of awesome kids including one of the cousin's friends who brought our kid-total to 9!
Now everyone has completely crashed but we're looking forward to a relaxing morning, with no rush to get out to Niagara for the day.
It was a long day of driving straight through to Toronto, but it was beautiful. We had the full gamut of weather, starting with thunder showers and more lightning followed by hot sun and finishing with more rain in Toronto. Unfortunately, during this ride I realized that, to make a long story short, I deleted my photos of us at the Parliment Buildings in Ottawa. I was really upset, but it's turned into one more reason to come back this way on our return trip home (as opposed to through the States.) We'll see, there's lots of time to make that decision.
It was lots of fun pulling into the outer limits of Toronto waiting to catch a glimpse of the CN Tower. Many times the kids thought they saw it but it turned out to be a crane or water tower. Finally, there it was! We had arrived in the big T.O!
We zipped through on 7 lane highways and made our way past into Oakville where Barton's cousins live. We thoroughly enjoyed the city limit signs through the different suburbs, figuring out how the populations compared to ours at home. Mississauga has more people than all of Newfoundland and Labrador, while the 'smaller' suburb of Oakville still has more than St John's. Every few exits was a new city, with still more people than we've seen in a very long time! Even so, the traffic was great coming in and we arrived just before 10pm.
Once again, we were welcomed in by a generous family! Don and Brenda and their four kids let us take over their basement. We were up pretty late catching up and then crashed like never before. When we got up this morning, the kids said they had had the best sleep EVER (of the trip). We ate breakfast on the porch and watched Barton and the kids set up the tent to dry it out. We threw in some laundry and packed up for Canada's Wonderland.
Though our drive to Wonderland was stunted by a bit of a 'traffic issue', we arrived at lunch time to Wonderland and the kids began their day of speed-demon ride obsession. The lines were pretty long but they got a few good runs in before a quick lunch and the water-parking it for the afternoon. Then it was back to more rides for late the afternoon and evening when we shut the park down at 10:30pm. We almost all took a turn on the new ride "Behemoth" (me too!) (http://behemoth.canadaswonderland.com/public/fun/videos.cfm) and a few others became faves. Nikolai loved "Dragon Fire" and rode it by himself at the end of the day. He and cousin Adrianna are the same age and had a great time in the kids area, while the bigger kids rode the rides with higher height restrictions. It was a fantastic day with a huge gang of awesome kids including one of the cousin's friends who brought our kid-total to 9!
Now everyone has completely crashed but we're looking forward to a relaxing morning, with no rush to get out to Niagara for the day.
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