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.