ticket total

The speeding tix was $550 usa. We paid a Hundred bucks in September.

Off to get Candy

Went over to Vancouver Island to get Candy our energetic Cocker Spaniel. That would complete our trip full circle. Vancouver Island on the West Coast to Prince Edward Island o the East Coast.

Almost home

We had to wait about 45 minutes, but in the end we DID get to see Old Faithful. Unfortunately there was no wifi as advertised at the KOA in West Yellowstone.

Afterward, we spent a pretty whiny trip driving through Montana and Idaho to eastern Washington. There were several mountain passes and they must have done a number on Mary's ears. We stayed in quite a nice Comfort Inn last night. One of the better rates and better hotels, too. Hot tub and great continental breakfast.

We're crossing the border back home today. Don't get too excited - we're not actually returning home properly. We still have to go and pick up Romeo and Izzy's long lost sister, Candy, from her big camping/fishing trip with Grandma on Vancouver Island.

Bursting a bubble

Today we're off to take Scott to see Yogi Bear and Old Faithful. I'm trying to figure out how to break it to him that Yogi isn't real.

The drive yesterday was stinking hot and over 100 degrees. Thank God for air conditioning. We spent the night in Buffalo, Wyoming. Today is expected to be even hotter, but hopefully cooler in the mountains.

Little Baby on the Prairie

The highlight of the trip for me was De Smet, South Dakota, setting of half the Little House on the Prairie series. I read those books several times over for years when I was younger, and they partly helped inspire my interest in historical fiction. It's a shame we were all so tired and pressed for time, or I would have toured the town, too, but we stuck to the Ingalls homestead.

It wasn't as authentic, perhaps, as Green Gables, but it was FAR more interactive. You could actually touch things and experience everything. There were horses, kittens, a replica shanty, a school house with an authentic OLD teacher, and of course a gift shop. Mary got a bonnet and I bought the box set of books. It was actually a deal, vs. buying the box set of Green Gables books in PEI.

We are currently in Wall, South Dakota, home of Wall Drug, a colossal tourist trap made famous by its numerous billboards. We're also quite close to Mount Rushmore, and there's a Wounded Knee museum. I would have liked to see 1880 Town, which we passed on the highway. I think somewhere around here, or perhaps the next state, is a cowboy museum.

It's tough being a baby

I don't understand. I sleep better if Mummy is right beside me and I can eat whenever I want. After just 8 hours of sleeping, she decided she didn't like that. I was mortified! I cried and cried and wouldn't go back to sleep. Mummy hid her head under the covers. Daddy tried his best to get me to stop crying and go back to sleep, but silly Daddy can't feed me the way Mummy can. After a while Mummy got really frustrated and fed me and I fell asleep! It was great. I was happy and they were happy. Then Izzy barked and I woke up and Mummy didn't want to feed me again. I don't understand. It had been a whole 20 minutes. Just a little snack and I'd go right back to sleep. Well, maybe.

Now I'm going to sleep in the car. Mummy is complaining because she won't get breakfast. She could I guess, but I'll wake up and cry cry cry if they stop, and I guess they don't want that.

It's tough being a baby.

No-tell Motel

We got lost in Chicago (big surprise) and ended up in a No-tell Motel of Super 8 in Lansing, south of the city. They snuck in the dogs for us, which was great, but all they had was a smoking room, which made me cough all night. The dogs pissed all over the room, too, because a drug dealer set up shop outside and Scott didn't want to hang around back there. They offered high speed internet, but the connection was so bad it didn't work. We DID order a fabulous Chicago deep-dish pizza, though.

In the morning, plans with friends fell through and we drove onward toward Iowa where plans with another friend were successful. We met up with my friend Holly and her daughter Charlotte and husband Shane. Charlotte was awesome. She wanted to hold my hand when we were walking and got me sucked into carrying her, too. She gave Mary lots of hugs and kisses, but did also kick her in the nose once.

Afterward, we drove onward again. Just past Des Moines we hit some terrible weather. Shortly after, once we'd cleared the storm cell, the emergency broadcast system came over the radio warning of tornado activity in the area we'd just been. Fun! Around this time Romeo also pissed himself in the car. He was desperately asking out and doing everything he could, but the last time we stopped for him the baby woke up and screamed for an hour. She needed her sleep. Poor Romeo ended up losing bladder control at my feet, onto the rubber mat. We apologized to him and told him he was a good boy.

We're in for the night at a Motel 6 in western Iowa. Their high speed internet doesn't work in the rooms. Lame. They've also got rules posted everywhere. Take off your muddy shoes. Don't open the window. And they're going to inspect the room before we check out. The TV is tiny, too.

Tomorrow we'll start to head north to South Dakota.

Zero to slpash

Another hellish drive. I slewed through miles of rain and lightning. One barn was burnt down by lightning in the area. When the road went dry and the condition went poor to good I hit the gas to make up for lost time to Buffalo. Unfortunately, I did it in fron of a Highway patrol man with his radar trained on me. It looks like I might have to pay an excessive ticket in New York. Consulting a Lawyer today. Could be more than $300 USA and as much as a $1,000. Knock on wood on that one. Hopefully the falls will be spectacular.

Farewell to Nova Scotia...

I know we've been terrible about uploading pictures. Problem is by the time we finish driving for the day, eat, and do whatever work Scott has for school, we're just too beat to go the extra effort to get photos off the camera.

Tonight we're outside Boston, Massachusetts. Great food in this Best Western. We crossed at St. Stephen, New Brunswick, and headed south. Our goal was Kittery, Maine, but Scott wanted to keep on going a bit further. We didn't get lost, but did make one poor route choice in the end.

We spent five nights in Nova Scotia. Just beautiful there. We found our dream home. $300K, 15 acres, three bedrooms plus den, huge unfinished attic (our future master suite), and full walk-in basement (for the dogs). It was awesome.

Our little cottage, the "chateau" as they called it, quickly became home. It was rustic but comfortable with everything we needed. The beach was a short walk away and we took many walks at low tide, all the way out to the water's edge with baby and dogs in tow to talk about life, love, and the future. We won't move to Nova Scotia, but it's a nice dream. Scott's first Father's Day was very memorable, too. We were sad to leave but eager to continue on in our adventures.

McDonald's wifi

We're sitting in a McDonalds in Bangor, Maine. I had a craving for Denny's breakfast, but we couldn't find a Denny's. They've got wifi! And free drink refills!

More on our last few days in Nova Scotia later.

Maritimes

I am enjoying the people and my step father in law Gerry's family out here has been extremly helpful. I have enjoyed seeing the earth red everywhere. Went to P.E.I today. The Fog was covering the Island when we arrived and it was 10 degrees, but warmed up and so did are hearts to this new heartland. Many great property deals for a summer home. The Drivers are a little slow and the police on the highway are a little miltant. I hope speed remains our friend as well as St.Christopher.

Free PEI wifi

Thank you, Baker's Lighthouse Motel, for the free wifi we got while parked outside your establishment in Summerside, PEI.

Mary enjoyed seeing Green Gables, I was a bit disappointed as there wasn't much to see.

Mary of Green Gables

We've been in Nova Scotia for a few days now. No internet, but beautiful area. The "chateau" on Clarence's property is actually a converted shed, but it's got everything we need.

Today, we've brought Mary to Prince Edward Island. Apparently it's much colder here than in Nova Scotia and we're all dressed inappropriately for the weather. Mary's got her Anne of Green Gables doll already and we've only just crossed the bridge. We're onward into Charlottetown to find ourselves some warmer clothes, then up to Cavendish for the real Green Gables stuff. The dogs are waiting impatiently back at the "chateau."

No room at the inn

What a loooooong day. We got lost forever in Montreal trying to meet my friend Susan, met her briefly for lunch (she got the bill - thanks Susan!), then got lost on the way out of town. We zipped through the rest of Quebec and decided to push through all the way to Moncton. It didn't work, and we ended up in the dark in New Brunswick with a hysterical child and no room at the inn. This is a mostly rural area. Why is it so popular?

We're at the Best Western in Woodstock paying $120 for a $180 room, and the night manager had us sneak in the dogs ($25/dog otherwise, and they aren't even supposed to be on this floor). What happened to camping? I don't know. It was really fun watching Scott flirt with the manager from my vantage point outside in the van. If I didn't know him, I'd think he was a woman. He kept kicking up his leg like a girl getting kissed for the first time and making sweeping arm movements. It was cute. But we got the cheapest rate we could get, so I guess it all worked!

Laval loves its strippers

Tourism Laval has it's own TV station where they promote local attractions, restaurants, etc. Including two or three strip joints.

A brief accommodation review

Nelson
North Shore Inn
An older hotel that could use some updating, but the beds were amazingly comfortable, they had high speed internet, a complimentary computer, and a continental breakfast. About $80 for two queen beds for two adults, a baby, and two dogs.

Calgary
Dave & Amy's House
New home in a Calgary suburb. We had a futon mattress on their living room floor, but it was free and we got breakfast and good company.

Saskatoon
Lorraine & Esther's House
Great older house in a quiet area outside the city. 15 acres of property, home-cooked meals, and an in-house massage therapist. Free.

Winnipeg
Quality Inn (Pembina)
Very nice updated hotel and a nicely furnished room. Nice big TV and free wifi. Unfortunately, boys hockey teams were booked into the same hotel that night and were rather noisy. Scott also had no hot water for his shower in the morning, and their elevator door didn't open when something was in the doorway (ie. man, stroller, etc.). I was told the manager would be in touch, but I had to call several times the Monday after we stayed before I got her. She discounted 10% off the price because, she said, we already had quite a low rate. We paid $83 plus tax for two queen beds. I don't recall if there was a dog fee.

Thunder Bay
Victoria Inn
Nice hotel with pool, waterslide, and free internet (LAN). The staff was friendly and we had no problems, and they even sent a fax for us at no charge. I think we paid $90 for two queen beds.

Sault Ste Marie
Super 8
New, clean hotel with free internet. They waived the dog fee. It was $83 plus tax, government rate. We had some girls soccer teams who made some noise at night, but that was quickly resolved with a complaint to the manager.

Ottawa
Comfort Inn
Very nice night staff who waived the dog fee. Free wifi, but our TV didn't work and we lost wifi around 11. The next morning, the office ladies fawned all over Mary and the manager gave her a rubber duck. They discounted are stay by 50% for the lack of TV and internet, so we only paid $50.

Montreal (Laval)
Best Western
Two queen beds, TV that works, and wifi. Dogs stay free. It's further away than we'd like to be from downtown, but downtown was more expensive. Free breakfast that was hot and served at the table (we ordered eggs, bacon, and roast potatoes), and Mary got some fruit and yogurt!$100.

Bonjour

I couldn't have picked a better doggie daycare at random from the phone book. It was actually just a pet supply store and groomer, and the owner took in doggie daycare dogs. Romeo and Izzy were his only daycare clients that day. We were worried, because Romeo can be an absolute jerk to other dogs. However, he's breedist - the only dogs he's accepted right away without incident have been cocker spaniels. His favorite are blondes. The owner, a pleasant Russian man and former veterinarian, breeds cocker spaniels and had his nice blonde male in today along with his assistant's (wife's?) two cockers, a blonde and a red. The kids seem to have had a great four hours there and were fed good organic food and Russian sausage all day.

We, on the other hand, got lost in downtown Ottawa and ended up going 7 storeys down in a parking garage with no elevator. The attendent made us pay anyway when we left. We finally found parking right across the street from where we were going, Scott's Museum of Civilization. It was nice, but not as cool as he remembered. A good half of it was dedicated to Aboriginal culture and artifacts, with a huge collections of West Coast native stuff, like totems. We were like... been there, done that. UBC's Museum of Anthropology and Victoria's Royal BC Museum cover it extensively, and we also couldn't help but think it was just stolen culture. We did see the ancient canoe that was recently discovered in the rafters of some Scottish museum and returned to Canada for restoration. Mary liked the Children's Museum (I'm sure she'll remember it for the rest of her life). Otherwise we were glad tickets were only $10 each.

After we collected the dogs we headed east to Quebec. We stopped at the tourist bureau just across the border and a very helpful woman named Andreanne helped us book the cheapest hotel we could find that took dogs without charging a huge dog fee. We're in the Best Western in Laval. After we took our stuff in, we ventured into downtown Montreal to find a restaurant. Instead we got lost and frustrated and came back to the hotel after an hour and a half. I discovered my purse was missing and Scott went to search for it (I found it under the bed, grr!) and came back with Subway. So we're in one of the most beautiful cities in the world that's reputed for its excellent restaurants, and we're eating Subway subs for dinner.

Part of what got us lost is Scott forgetting the French directional words. "I don't know what Quest is." "It's not Quest, it's Ouest! West! Go West!"

Ticked off

I found a tick on me this morning after my shower. A TICK! I freaked out and Scott pulled it out. It hadn't embedded itself yet.

The pups are booked into doggie daycare for the day. We haven't told them that Romeo can be a jerk.

Mary learns to crawl...

... on the floor of the Comfort Inn in Ottawa, Ontario. It was pretty cool. She spotted what she wanted, moved forward, and got it.

We left Sault Ste Marie around 10am and arrived around 7pm in Ottawa. Yet another hotel, but we weren't expecting cheap since it's a big city. Scott scored us a free room upgrade unintentionally, too. We have a fridge and microwave!

After we unloaded our stuff we took our first trip downtown to walk around. I caught some cool nightshots of Parliament. We certainly are in BilingualLand now. Scott's having a bit of a hard time. We've argued that, yes, there IS a difference between Laurier and Laurent, and they are two completely different streets. He also reads both the French and English on signs and ends up with something like "the Pont Bridge." A pont IS a bridge, so that's not going to help when asking for directions either.

Kid fell asleep in the car on the way back, so she then woke up when being taken out, and she's doing the same thing as last night. It'll either be the all-night boobfest or a lot of being awake and screaming. Scott doesn't understand that both these scenarios stress the crap out of me and thinks it's just fun to keep her up playing.

I might try to get some photos up tonight, but I've got a LOT to organize now and Scott needs to work on a project for his advocacy course (it doesn't really count as "working on it" to open a Word document and save it with nothing more than the question copied and pasted at the top).

Tomorrow we're doing the Museum of Civilization and more wandering about downtown. We're unsure where we'll end up last night. It depends on how much time we spend in Ottawa. We'd like to camp, since the weather will be warm.

Sunday the Day of Worship

Well;

I would like to be getting ready for church back home, but instead I am slowly getting everyone up and ready for the arduos journey towards Ottowa. Many complaints and petty arguments about our timeline, but we are slowly getting to our departure.

Sleep-deprived

I don't know if Mary's teething, had bad gas, or is just over-tired, but that was the worst night ever. She wouldn't fall asleep despite me nursing for well over an hour. When she eventually did (with Scott, just passed out exhausted) it didn't last long, and I spent most of the rest of the night nursing with both of us asleep. I woke up to pee and she woke up screaming, too.

There's black-out curtains in these rooms, so she and I have no idea that it's a bright sunny day out. Scott wants to just go, but I'm reluctant to wake the girl up because she so desperately needs some sleep and I'm finally not breastfeeding for the first time in 8 or 9 hours.

In other news, I just caught Scott shaving his back?

Apparently the "children" I heard running and stomping on the floor above us last night was a girl's soccer team from the States. In Winnipeg we had an American boy's hockey team. I hope this isn't a pattern. And when we drive through the States, will it be rowdy Canadian teams keeping us awake?

Izzy got her chocolate fix

Found out why Izzy was so hyper for the last few hours of the drive... she stole Scott's M&Ms and ate them under his seat.

This morning we went to find my dad's childhood home in Thunder Bay. Either Grandpa remembered the address wrong or they changed the street numbers, but 344 Richard St. Doesn't exist. I called my dad (caught him in the bathroom this time... luckily he has a phone in there) and he described the house. I think we found it. Then, just a kilometer away, we stopped at the Terry Fox Monument. We come from Terry's hometown, and now this is where he was forced to end his epic run. It's an amazing statue with an amazing view of Lake Superior and Thunder Bay. Definitely appropriate. I met an older couple there who were driving to BC as well as a man who'd just travelled all the way to BC and was now making the trip the other way. Apparently Terry makes for a great stop for long-haul travellers.


Mary slept awesome in the car this time, including one 3+ hour nap, so we made good time from Thunder Bay. We expected to get in around 8 but instead rolled into town around 6. I get after Scott for driving 140, passing on double yellows, and making quick maneuvres around the big rigs, but hey... we got here earlier than the other stops, didn't we?

We're in another hotel. The prices in the BCAA guide really aren't at all accurate. Super 8 was roughly the same as the crappy motels, and it's newer, has high speed internet, free continental breakfast, and the front desk dude waived the pet fee. Izzy was going insane with pent up energy so after we ate dinner (at Lonestar, spending too much) we took her to find a park so she could run. We didn't bring the map the desk attendent gave us, so we ended up on some residential street. Scott pulled over to ask an older couple for directions.

"Hey there, I'm from BC and I'm looking for an elementary school." Remember, this is around 7:30 at night at this point. "So my daughter can play on the swings."

The man looked at him like his was some creep looking to case out the place before the kids arrived. He told us, though, and we let Izzy chase a water bottle (couldn't find a ball). She's getting really good at tracking things when she doesn't see them fall. Scott also took Mary on the slide and almost got stuck like Pooh in the honey tree. He says it was his height. Teehee.

It's a long haul stretch to Ottawa tomorrow, I think our longest distance so far. We're really pushing our luck dodging the Ontario Provincial Police. Given how quickly we've started blowing the budget, we're reconsidering our plans for accomodation. Scott wanted to stay in a nice hotel in Ottawa, but perhaps we'll return to the original plan of staying in a crappy motel outside the city. We still have to put the pups into doggie daycare while we sightsee.

Morning Horoscope

You are moving so fast it is impossible for others to catch you.

I hope that's true. Today is going to be one of the longer drives.

Scott

Aging biker has no thunder in Thunder Bay

We slept well. Mary only woke up once, and I brought her into bed with us. This morning I took the dogs out and Izzy decided she couldn't wait for grass. Instead, she took her big poo right in the middle of the taxi lane smack in front of the hotel's main doors. Thanks, Izzy. Two old bikers and a taxi driver all saw her do it. I couldn't clean it up right away because I had no bags. Romeo hadn't done anything at all yet, so I waited for him to pee, and ran inside to get bags. Had to carry Izzy so she wouldn't decide that the lobby would be an even better place to pee. They finished their business outside and I picked up all their little presents. Then this biker came up to me.

"I was gonna yell at you when I saw you leave that. Thanks for coming back to pick it up."

I'm waiting for someone to say something before I can pick it up. Like, what am I supposed to do? Pick it up with my bare hands?

The Ghost that haunts you

Well,

Zipping down the highway in rather high sppeds I find myself always looking back in my rear view mirror and no not to just see my sweet daughters face in the back seat or other cars, but to stay ahead of the local constabulary. In Ontario they wait off to the side of the road and wait for you to pass. Then cruise up behind you. I lucked out. The number one here is slower than all other provinces thus far. The main posted speed limit is 90 km per hour, but we try to keep well above that. More than once Val shouts at me to slow down, but we remain on the road and keep truck'n. The cops seem more prevalent with there hiway patrol here and we have dodged 5 or 6 cop cars. They seem to ignore us for the most part and have pulled over semi-trailers for various infractions. I hope the speed limit increases and the enforcement decreases for the next leg of the race.

Scott

We escaped the Kenora vortex

So much for the plan to leave on time in the morning. We left Winnipeg around 11:30 after sleeping in at the hotel, visiting Louis Riel's house (very nice and knowledgeable interpreter in costume) and driving by his grave.


Driving through Manitoba was fine, but as soon as we entered Ontario it was like we were cursed. It was not a good first introduction to the province. The roads were terrible and we must have hit at least six different construction sites. We decided to go into Kenora, the first biggest town, for lunch and ended up getting sucked in for over an hour. It was a vortex. We only drove 2.5 hours from Winnipeg and got out of Kenora at 3pm. Then it took till 4pm just get past the next exit to Kenora due to all the godforsaken road construction. And the speed limit in Ontario is 90km/h, and they're sure to remind you by posting a bit sign detailing the ticket prices as you enter the province.

We pressed on after stopping for lunch/diaper/boob/pee on a pull-out on Dogtooth Lake, very appropriate. Ate some leftovers from the night before.

It was a long, tough haul and there were no shacks to look at. There were few towns but lots of cottages and foreign license plates to see. We got into Thunder Bay at 8:30 and are paying $90 plus the $10 dog fee plus tax for a room at the Victoria Inn. It has a pool, though, and high speed internet. I think Scott went and "accidentally" billed the room $7 for the privilege of playing some video games. He was playing around with the service, which he never used, and thinks it might have happened. Grr.

Tomorrow it's a stop at 344 Richard St. to see if my dad's childhood home is still standing, the onward to Sault Ste. Marie. We may try camping tomorrow night, weather depending. The KOA campground offers tent sites with wifi access. Weird, but okay!

Scott took a cold shower

Not intentionally. My shower last night was fine, and every time I try the taps now I can get hot, but he swears he tried every which way and got an occasional burst of hot but mostly just cold. I've told the front desk and we'll see what happens. Quality Inn has a 100% satisfaction guarantee.

Today we'll stop and see the Louis Riel National Historic Site before we leave and head east towards Ontario.

Finding my roots

Again I've left the notebook in the car. We did a LOT of driving today. It was a long haul from Saskatoon to Winnipeg.

In Saskatoon we made a brief detour to see the house my Grandma grew up in. My mom's directions had been "on 109th St., the smallest house on the street." Sure, Mom, thanks. We got there and 109th was only 3 blocks long, but there were tons of small houses. So I called my Grandma! She knew we were going on our trip but didn't know it was so soon. She gave us the address and we talked as Scott drove back along the street to the right house. Grandma talked all about the things we were passing - the school she apparently attending, the church she got married in (I'm pretty sure it's been rebuilt since the 40s, but I suppose I should have taken a picture).

Out of Saskatoon, we drove and drove and drove. Mary did pretty well again. Our goal was Yorkton for lunch, but she didn't make it. We stopped in a town called Wynyard (or something) for a Subway/diaper/pee and she slept into Yorkton, where we stopped at a park for a stretch and another diaper. It was a nice windy park and Mary had fun in the swing. The dogs had fun, too. Izzy ate some human feces she found. Yes, that's right. Human feces. We didn't discover until we got to the hotel in Winnipeg that Romeo ROLLED IN IT. They both got baths. Effing disgusting.

All through the drive we played "Shack Buggy," a modified version of Punch Buggy. We kept passing these random falling apart shacks in the middle of the prairie, so everytime one of us spotted one we'd called out "Shack!" and punch the other one in the arm. Except Scott wasn't allowed to punch hard because I have sensitive arms.

We crossed the border and I wasn't paying attention, so we didn't take the highway I wanted to so had to make a little detour later. I was heading towards Sandy Lake, the small hole-in-the-wall town where my grandfather was born and raised. We found it! First thing we passed when we turned towards the town was the cemetery, so we pulled over and walked in. Mary, as she's already written, was unusually happy and smily the entire time. I think the spirits were glad to have a baby visiting and entertained her. We were in the Catholic side first and did find a few Ellchuks. Apparently my branch of the family spells it wrong!

We crossed over to the Orthodox side (separated by a fence) and I can't describe the feeling when I found my great-grandparents graves. First I gloated. Until then Scott was being accomodating and walking through the cemetery with me, but he didn't think we'd find anything. I didn't know if we would either, as I assumed they moved to old age homes in Winnipeg or something and were buried there. When I got done gloating, we took pictures and I just felt this great confirmation of my place in the world, at least the Ukrainian side. I don't know much of anything at all about my Ukrainian roots because Grandpa never really talks about it and Dad never talks about his grandparents. Having this visual proof of where I come from, where my roots are, was pretty goddamn cool. I cried a little bit, and when I went to pick up Mary (I'd left her sitting by the gravestone "getting to know them"), she had a single tear running down her cheek. She hadn't been crying at all.

After the cemetery we drove into town and looked around. We saw both the Catholic and the Orthodox churches, passed at least three seniors centres or old age homes, the sinking boat dock, and then spotted the Ukrainian Cultural Centre Museum. They were open! The stars aligned to bring us here and I'm still processing how amazing it is that all this lined up. The museum doesn't open for the season until late June, but they were open that day only for a school group that went through in the morning. The museum attendent, a girl younger than me (she was a university student), had been bored out of her skull all day after that because no one else came in. Then this random chick from BC walks in.

We drove straight to Winnipeg after that. Got lost. Random taxi blocked the entire hotel entrance, so I bitched him out. I showered. We didn't get to eat real food and Mary took forever to fall asleep. Scott took his PoliSci test and we think he failed. We paid the extra to stay in this hotel because we needed the high speed internet for that test. Then Scott spent far too much money and made this huge order at a pizza place. It's good food, at least. It's 10pm Pacific time and midnight Winnipeg time.

I think we're going to slow down tomorrow and not go as far as we intended (Thunder Bay). We have no more hotel reservations or planned family visits until we get to the end. There's some Louis Riel stuff to see in Winnipeg, and we'll be more casual with the driving. Scott also wants to see if he can find some of his family's "stuff" he thinks exists in the area. I think he's jealous of my cool experience in Sandy Lake.

Good spirits make me laugh

We drove for a very very long time today. I woke up after my second nap and Mummy was wanting to take a detour to a little town on the map called Sandy Lake to find something called ancestors. Daddy didn't think she could find it. We drove and found Sandy Lake and the first thing was a cemetery. Mummy and me walked around and there were all sorts of happy spirits making me laugh, so I was happy too. We found an old old Ellchuk but didn't know who he was because it was written in a language Mummy calls Cyrrilic. Then we found Nickolas Ellchuck who was born in 1914 and his wife's name was Mary. We said hi. Then we found two people my mummy says are my great-great-grandparents, Dmytro and Magdalene. She jumped up and down and pointed fingers at Daddy and said "I told you so!" We took pictures.

We also found Peter Ellchuk, born in 1920, but Peter is also Grandpa Elchuk's name. And Dale Ellchuk, almost the same age as my Grandpa Dave.

That's the other thing. Mummy says that Grandpa Ellchuk started spelling the name wrong!

Finally have working internet

After driving around Winnipeg for a half hour, we found the hotel and it's got high speed internet that works!

We're officially the suspicious city folk

Just a quick post with no photos as I'm on dial-up here.

I hope this doesn't become a pattern, but we got going later than we wanted to from Dave and Amy's house. We made our way out of Calgary far easier than we made our way in and safely arrived at Drumheller, where Scott got his stint in the Royal Tyrell Museum of Paleantology. Mary had a good time, and Drumheller was cool with lots of neat dinosaur statues throughout town. We weren't impressed with the visitor's centre, where it took far too long.

Then we started driving straight east. And driving, and driving. First I found it interesting, then boring, then we started to have fun spotting all the strange little anomolies dotted along the big fields of nothing.

We stopped for lunch in a little town just before the Saskatchewan border called Oyen. It was a bit creepy. We ate at the Oyen Family Restaurant and the food was great with awesome prices, but the waitress eyed us up suspiciously the whole time. You're not from here, I'm sure. She didn't speak a word to us unless spoken to and didn't even offer us menus until we asked.

Driving driving and driving some more, Scott was clocking an average of 130. We stopped for gas but I didn't keep track of how much. It was $1.14 in Kindersley, Saskatchewan.

Now here we are at Lorraine and Esther's house in Grandora, outside Saskatoon. Lorraine is my step-dad's sister and Esther is her partner. Visiting them is Esther's 4-year-old granddaughter, Elliot, a cute little thing who certainly loves our dogs whether they want her to or not. She calls Izzy Spot because she looks like the dog in her books (the old school Dick and Jane books).

Lorraine is a massage therapist and Scott has hit her up for a massage. Stinker. I'm jealous so I might, too.

And the storms continue into Alberta

So we made a poor route choice in the morning that sucked up two hours. I guess the free Kootenay Lake ferry wasn't a good idea. Then we hit a rainstorm and slow drivers with no passing lanes on the other side. Joy.

Mary did well. We got gas in Creston ($1.19/L) and stopped at Wal-Mart in Cranbrook to buy a wifi thingy that hasn't connected to the internet yet. I got a good nap somewhere after Kimberley until Scott woke me up to take a picture. Yeah, thanks. Mary kept on sleeping so we didn't eat until we got to Banff. She also peed once in an 8-hour period. We were chased by thunder and lightning from Cranbrook on. We came out of it in Banff and got some some when we stopped at this great little Greek place. Tzatziki burgers and poutine.

As we approached Calgary we were treated with an awesome thunder and lightning storm that slowed us down even more. Torrential downpours worse than we've ever seen in BC. Scott got directions from his friend Dave but they didn't work that great, so we drove even longer in the torrential downpour. So far I'm not that fond of Calgary! We passed some cars that were dead in the water that was so deep on the road.

Tonight we're staying with Scott's good friend Dave. They've been friends almost 20 years, so I get some good stories. The fun part? Dave is married to Scott's ex-wife's sister, Amy. They've got three kids and a dog - another Daisy. Their son Zak, despite loud talking and dogs barking, slept through our arrival and all continued on sleeping. Their son Jonah, just a few months older than Mary, is a chunky little blonde boy who fell asleep without being breastfed. I was jealous. Their daughter Shelby is a cool kid, and Mary liked playing with her. Another new friend!

It's 11:30 here almost (10:30 in Mary's head) and she's sleepy but won't fall asleep. She's just rolling around quietly playing. Meanwhile, Izzy still refuses to pee and she's also afraid of this rabbit.

Pictures tomorrow. I left the camera cable in the car (but I know where it is!)

Good Morning, Day 2

This is how Mary woke up. She had an entire queen-sized bed to herself. Notice the wall her daddy constructed around her.


Scott studies federalism for PoliSci.

So I'm a bit obsessive

I spent an hour and a half last night looking for the USB camera cord. Scott kept trying to get me to stop going out to the van in the dark and I got mad because he kept telling me to practice my "deep breathing." I eventually gave up, resigned to the fact that we'd have to spend untold amounts of money to buy a new one. Until I changed Mary's diaper this morning and found the cord under the diaper bag. Scott gloated.

The North Shore Inn may not be a swanky hotel, but they've got the best mattresses I've ever slept on, excluding my own. Mary only woke up once, to eat. They've also got awesome black-out curtains. Our room also had a huge bathroom with great water pressure. Add this to the new computer with flatscreen monitor in the lobby with high speed internet and it made for a great night's stay. All in all worth the $80ish. Plus there's a complimentary continental breakfast.

I'm going to have to spend some time later resizing the photos on the laptop, because the camera's resize capability makes for some pixelated photos.

Weird sculpture thing behind the gas station in Princeton. Phiffer's Fountain? Apparently it was given away for free to whoever had the funds to move it out of its location in Vancouver, where it took up too much room.

Isn't this amazing weather? Also in Princeton.

The little miss playing with the other little miss on Gyro Beach in Osoyoos.

See under the tree? That's the bylaw officer who kicked us off the beach.

A lovely view of Osoyoos from the hill east of town.

The cool stone tunnel. Not sure if it was for trains or cars originally.

Graffiti on the tunnel - some pretty and some not-so-pretty.

You really have to see the non-pixelated version of this picture. It's a little dancing Russian man welcoming you to Grand Forks.

Mary meets Beth.

Mary and her two new friends, Leoni (right) and Daisy (left)

Day 1 went well, until...

Settling into our motel for the night, I discovered that the wireless USB thingy for the laptop is broken, so even though the motel provides wireless internet we can't use it. I also seem to have misplaced the USB cable for the camera. Great. I know I have that, it's just been dropped somewhere between the van and the room. So I've got some great pictures of Day 1 but no way of sharing them.

Mary did well. She had one or two total meltdowns and a few partial ones. Got some good naps in, too. She got her first diaper change at the summit of the Hope-Princeton pass. We stopped for gas in Princeton ($1.19, got 37 litres for $45) and still have half a tank left. Diapers changed before Princeton, at Castlegar, at our friend's house outside Nelson, and lastly in the motel before bed. Doesn't seem like much, but she's not peeing as much as usual. Only 4 (plus two in the morning before we left home).

One of the highlights: getting kicked off the beach in Osoyoos, where we made a pit stop for the dogs. We thought the bylaw officer was after us for no leashes, but apparently that's not an issue. No dogs are allowed on that particular beach after June 1. Oops!

My friend Beth and her family are doing well. I haven't seen her since 2002 (on a camping trip with a previous boyfriend, teehee), and we met in 2001 when I was on a summer work term here in Nelson. We ate dinner with her and her husband Rob as well as an international student doing a homestay with them, Leoni from Germany. Leoni and Mary were fast friends, and their dog Daisy was very interested in this miniature human. Mary was the first baby she'd met and I guess she felt the need to show off since Mary was receiving all the attention. She did a LOT of doggie "talking" during our visit.

Mary fell asleep on the ride back to the motel so we're skipping the hot springs. Perhaps in the morning, but likely not. A shame.

Perhaps tomorrow I'll find the camera cord, and I guess there's a trip to WalMart for the cheapest wireless internet thingy we can find.

PS. We still haven't seen any of the thunder and lightning they promised in the weather report.

Thunder bolts of lightning, very very frightening

Thunder storms are forecast all the way across the southern portion of the province today. Cool!

High temperatures and a 40% chance of rain in Nelson. Humid. Mmm. Might have to skip the hotsprings.

My Wife syas she is a cool blogger..............

Now she is a good typist and is known to play on the internet a little to long, but I think she needs a touch of reality. Am I the one to take her out of her chair of self placed platitudes. Her wise indulgence in cyber space may come back and bite her in the future. I love my wife, but she needs a place to meditate with candles and not the soft glow of a LCD screen. Maybe a fulfilling Mantra will start her on her way like MMMMMMMMMMMMMMeditation. Wish us like on our trip.

Itinerary

Curious where we're going?

June 4: Leave home in Port Coquitlam, BC. Drive along the scenic southern route of Highway 3 to Nelson. Stay in a motel, visit my friend Beth and her family, and go to Ainsworth Hot Springs.

June 5: Leave Nelson and travel as-yet-undetermined route to Calgary, Alberta, where we'll stay with Scott's friend Dave and his family.

June 6: Leave Calgary early and head northeast to Drumheller to visit the dinosaur museum and look at dinosaur bones (boys! Scott's been drooling about this since we started planning the trip). We'll spend a few hours before heading off to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (actually a little bump in the road called Grandora), to stay with my step-dad's sister.

June 7: Leave Saskatoon and drive as fast as we can through field after field to Winnipeg, Manitoba. Plans to stay with my dad's cousin fell through, so we're spending more than budgeted for a hotel with high speed internet. Scott has a test tonight.

June 8: Leave Winnipeg and spend the drive arguing about whether or not to stay in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Scott has an unexplainable hate-on for Thunder Bay. My dad was born here. Camping or motelling will depend on weather and mosquitos.

June 9: Leave Thunder Bay (or nearby town) and drive to Sault Ste. Marie. Apparently it's quite scenic. Accomodations as per Thunder Bay. Possibly try to meet up with my friend Tekla who lives in northern Michigan.

June 10: Leave Sault Ste Marie and drive to Ottawa. Spend the night at a nice hotel.

June 11: Be tourists in Ottawa. The dogs will be dropped in doggie daycare somewhere. Scott wants to see the Museum of Civilization. Of course we'll look at the Parliament Buildings.

From here we're undecided. We may spend the night somewhere between Ottawa and Montreal camping or motelling, or we might drive straight to Montreal and stay at another nice hotel, since it's a nice city. If we do the former, we'll spend the following day in Montreal being tourists and then drive to Quebec City for a night's stay in a nice hotel.

Our last leg takes us to Port Howe, Nova Scotia. My step-dad's brother has a cottage on the beach where we'll stay for a few days before heading on our western journey home, through the US.

Final Frenzy

Apparently we're done packing. Of course everything got left till the last minute. The kid slept about 8 or 9 hours last night, then didn't nap more than a half hour all day. So of course she refused to fall asleep when we got home despite being exhausted and I spent 3 hours trying when I really needed to be packing. Brat. She finally fell asleep around 9.

We've got our camping stuff, food, towels, clothing, medical stuff, kid stuff, dog stuff, camera stuff. The van has been washed and vacuumed. Marcus, Watson, Chelsea and Elf are safely tucked away at Grandma's house (although apparently Elf is hiding; Chelsea, the pig, promptly came out to eat after the trauma of being shoved in a crate with her arch rival).

So, after temporarily freaking out about the amount of stuff left to do and the lack of time to do it, I think we're good to go. Just a few things to pack tomorrow (kit bag, pillow, baby's light box for sleeping).

Too hot to handle

We leave in less than 48 hours and we still haven't packed a thing. It's close to 30 degrees outside and all three of us are hot and cranky. All we want to do it go out and eat, but we should really be saving all the money we can for the trip.

I spent two hours at the mall this morning because it was air conditioned. Got the small bin for garbage in the van as well as a body pillow to help stop the baby from rolling off the bed. And a bunch of new underwear for Josh. Yeah, productive.

Meanwhile, we haven't organized camping stuff, clothing, the baby's diaper bag... nothing. Scott put together a first aid kit. I did a bunch more laundry. I've done at least 10 loads.

I probably got myself a sunburn today. Mary's out sitting in the shade in her swing in a diaper soaking wet. We sprayed her with the hose and she loved it.

The floor of the van has grey carpet

So finally... FINALLY... after 8 months of owning this van, the man finally cleaned it. He agreed when we bought it that he wouldn't let it get like his previous truck, which had a pile of garbage on the passenger side filled up to seat level on a weekly basis that he'd have to clean out in order for me to sit in it. No joke, we couldn't see the floor of the van and none of it was mine. Food wrappers, clothing, shoes, random tools, random parts of cell phones, pop cans, coffee mugs, disposable dental floss sticks... it was nasty.

Promptly after clearing all this crap OUT of the van what does he go and do? Load a bunch more crap IN. Branches and leaves from his OCD pruning adventures. He's off to the transfer station now. Two benefits at least: the branches are finally out of the yard, and the van will smell like pine for a few days. People buy artificial air fresheners to do the same thing!

We're going to wash and vacuum it on Sunday so it's nice and fresh and new. Do I sound optimistic enough?

On the trip, it's not as easy as just putting all the garbage in a garbage bag, since the dogs would just tear into it. Maybe a small plastic bin with a lid to sit between the seats?

Who am I kidding? We're bringing back 12,000 kilometers of garbage with us.

A good job evaluation

Mummy says I'm already good at my main job - sleeping and playing. I've been asleep for an hour and a half now while Mummy makes our webpage, and before that I played by myself next to her while she worked on it some more. I also slept 45 minutes this morning after we dropped Daddy off at work. Aren't I a good baby?

The Countdown Begins

Four days till D-Day (Departure Day) and I finally made the website, so the countdown can officially begin. Are we ready? No.

Preparations so far:

• Candy has been sent to Grandma's house. Does she miss us? Reports say no.
• Lots of laundry done.
• Returns and exchanges of trip-related items at the mall done.
• Talked to neighbours about picking up our mail, etc.

Left to do:

• Send off Marcus, Watson, Chelsea and Elf off to other Grandma's house.
• Clean the van.
• Make list upon list.
• Pack stuff for Man, Woman, Baby, Dog1, and Dog2
• Clean the house.
• Get in touch with family and friends we plan to stay with.
• Make hotel reservations in Alberta for Night #2.
• Many, many other things

It's Scott's last day at Job #1 today. His parental leave starts on Monday, and he's nursing a cold that he doesn't want to get worse, so he's calling in sick tomorrow.