Home!

On our way to Yellowstone park we stopped in Cody, Monatna where they were having a rodeo that night. We stopped for a bit to watch some cowboys have a shoot out before continuing on to Yellowstone park. The drive through the park was beautiful, the scenery was trees, mountains, lakes and fields full of bison. We visited the geyser, Old Faithful, and watched it erupt outside of the old hotel. After Yellowstone was a long drive through Montana until we arrived at Silverwood Theme Park in Idaho.

Silverwood is a park full of rides, games and shopping. For some reason we decided that the first thing we would do is ride the most intense rollar coaster in the park. Mind you, we had been cruising along in the van at 55mph for a month and a half so we were pretty shaken after. We spent most of the day there on the rides and then drove to Ritzville, Washington. It was a long night since we unknowingly parked near a train track on which a train would go rumbling and whistling by every hour. The next night spent in Port Angeles was much better.

This afternoon we caught the ferry to Victoria where, much to our relief, had a very easy border crossing. We were so estatic to be back in Canada and back on the island that we went for a stroll through downtown and caught an IMAX. On our way back home now, stuck in rush hour traffic...

Overall, we can both say our trip across Canada was amazing, the States a little less so but still a good experience with some great memories. Now it's time to give the van a break and enjoy the summer at home. Thanks for reading!

USA

Okay, it's been a while since I've posted and this will probably be one of the last posts since we've decided to cut the trip short and go home early. Currently we are in Wyoming on our way to the Yellowstone Park. Since my last post we have made a few stops. The first one was in Cleveland, Ohio where we visited the actual house used in the Christmas Story movie. Very cool.

Christmas Story House

Our next big stop was in Wisconsin, my new favourite state, where we visited a little cheese cellar and bought some delicious cheese! In the small building a tiny section was dedicated to selling cheese and the rest was filled with cheese making equipment where workers were busy cleaning after a long day of cheese making.

Widmer's Cheese Cellar

Nom nom nom

Just down the street we stopped at a little chocolate shop filled with homemade chocolates and lots of other locally made sweets, wines, jams, etc. We spent a good while here chatting with one very enthusiastic employee listing many many places we can stop on our way home. We also chatted with the chocolate maker who had been completely blind since he was two and has been very successful  in his chocolate making and baking. Eventually, we left and started driving further west towards Minnesota. Once here, we had a little visit with Keith, another car guy that Mike knows then we were on our way again. We slowed down for a minute in South Dakota to take a photo of the Corn Palace, below.

Corn Palace

Yesterday we continued the drive through South Dakota making a stop at the Pioneer Auto Museum. An older guys collection of everything old, some very neat things here. Here's a sample of the hundreds of photos Mike took...

Really!?

 Next we stopped at the famous Wall Drug in Wall. It's a huge drug store turned tourist destination selling all sorts of tourist gifts, books, clothes, jewelery, candy and drugs of course. There's also a restaurant, ice cream stand and homemade donuts. We probably spent a couple of hours here and didn't even see the outdoor half of it due to the weather. By the way, up until today we had been experiencing terrible weather, mainly thunder showers. Here's a photo from our drive today:

Bonus section!

Uneducated person of the day: "Canada is north of here?!"

Odd sighting: Camel grazing in Wisconsin backyard

State law: Illegal to sell alcohol on Sundays in Indiana and not after 9pm in neighbor state

Stupid sign of the day:

"Please make sure children are not left unattended in vehicles."

Do people honestly forget their children in their cars!?!?

USA

Not much has happened since we arrived in the States, just driving, sleeping and eating. The weather was crap for the first few days and everyone we've encountered has been unnecessarily rude. We rejoice in cheap gas and cheap booze. Oh, and Krispy Kreme.

USA Border

We crossed over the border from New Brunswick to Maine yesterday afternoon. We both expected our van to be searched but did not expect what actually happened...they did want to search our van so we went inside to a huge room where there was about 6 border patrol people standing around (no other people crossing through at this time) and directed us to talk to one of them who took my purse and Mike's wallet and our phones, asked us a few basic border crossing questions ("where are you going?" "why?" "are you married?" "how do you know each other?" "how much money do you have?") We stood there for a few minutes while he checked our passports then he asked me to sit down. He asked Mike all sorts of questions about his previous border crossings then asked him to sit down. We waited while he pulled everything out of my purse, wallet and Mike's wallet, pausing to ask us why we both have a policy number written down (our travel insurance) and asking us what every single key on our key chains were for. Meanwhile, 4 other people are searching the van. Next, him and another guy asked Mike to stand in a square (If he didn't stand in the square "it would be painful") then had him pull out his pockets to show he didn't have anything in them or in his pants which took about 5 minutes. He asked me to get up next, jokingly asking if my pants even had pockets (I was in yoga pants) which I showed him did indeed have pockets, he laughed, asked me to turn around so he could see if I had back pockets then sent me back to sit down. By this point we were a bit anxious but I was thinking it wouldn't be much longer until we could go as about an hour had already passed. But no, he wanted the pass codes to both our phones now. We thought that if we had a pass code that they would not be allowed to search our phones so I questioned him about it which he replied "We have the authority to search any personal belongings" so we gave him the pass codes...he proceeded to search through all our text messages and photos. He saw a text from the bank on my phone with the balance of my chequing account which was a smaller amount then what I had declared I had so I told him the rest was in another account. He then asked Mike questions about who various people he had texted were and about the subjects of the texts. He talked to him for a while about why he couldn't get a lay off from his job and why he doesn't have another job lined up and read texts about other people getting lay offs a couple weeks after Mike had left so that was an issue...a while later he made me sign into my bank account to show him how much money I had. He also asked for the blog address and looked at it. (If your reading this border patrol man, you suck!) By this point we were very frustrated as that man searched through all our personal stuff on our phones and the other border patrol people stood around joking and laughing. We felt like garbage. What a huge invasion of our privacy! We are two nice normal people with nothing to hide who are on a vacation, was that not clear!?!? Anyways, there was a million other stupid questions he asked us about random stuff and finally he let us through...that was after two hours. And I honestly feel like they just did that for fun, they picked us out and scrutinized everything about us just for kicks. Anyone else whose vehicle they searched wasn't there for longer then 10 minutes before they were let through. After this trip I will absolutely not be in any rush to return to this country after the way they treated us. Never in my life have I felt more violated of my privacy. And for no apparent reason.

Fundy Bay

This morning we drove down through the scenic Fundy Bay area. We made a stop at Hopewell Rocks where we had to pay $9 each to walk down to the beach and see the "flowerpot rocks." I brought my camera but forgot to replace my memory card when I last took it out...luckily Mike brought the other camera. So here we are standing on the ocean floor as when the tide comes in it would be well over our heads...

Next, we drove to Cape Enrage. We decided not to pay the $5 each to be able to walk over to the light house so just parked outside and took a couple of photos.

We continued the drive with a stop at a little bakery in Alma for their "famous" sticky buns then on to St. John. We are in St. John for the night and will be going through the border tomorrow.

Moncton, New Brunswick

After doing some shopping in Halifax (unfortunately our planned visit didn't work out) we spent the night in Truro, Nova Scotia again. Monday afternoon we drove back to Moncton and stopped again at John and Cheryl's where we had chili for dinner then met a few other car people so Mike could admire another old car for a while. We had a nice visit and then spent the night in town. Today we are doing Fundy Bay and St. John.

Back in Nova Scotia

We caught the 11:45pm ferry from Newfoundland on Thursday night. This ferry was a bit bigger with a casino and movie room, and I forgot to mention before that there are also rooms with beds and showers that you can stay in for an extra fee. We figured we would be okay sleeping in a chair though which went alright, Mike slept most of the night but I found it difficult with all the snoring around me...We were on the ferry for around a total of 12 hours this time, almost twice as long as the ride there! Back in Sydney, Nova Scotia we got breakfast and showers then drove to Truro for the night.

Saturday we drove down to Lockeport, a small town along the south coast of Nova Scotia. This is where my ancestors lived from the 1700s to The 1990s. We were able to walk around most of the town in a short time, along the way seeing the beautiful sandy beaches, historical homes from the 1800s and also walked along the first provincially registered street in Nova Scotia.

Next, we drove to Shelburne which is about 30 minutes west of Lockeport. This is another town where my ancestors are from and here we found the names of two family members on a fisherman's monument. Shelburne was bigger then Lockeport but also held onto its historical roots with old houses and buildings lining the streets and lots of signs and information about the towns history. We spent the night here, went for another walk around town in the morning, then started driving back to Halifax. On the way we drove through another nearby town, Liverpool, where more of my family was from.

We're still on the way to Halifax where we will be visiting one of Mike's coworkers. It's a beautiful day with not a cloud in the sky!

Sights in Newfoundland

On our first full day in Newfoundland (Monday) Andrew and Tarra had our day all planned out...our first stop was to a little restaurant in Bay Roberts called Madrock Cafe where we had a full breakfast and tried a local favourite, touton, a stiff pancake with molasses. Afterwards we took a short drive to a walking trail along the shore. It was very windy so we just walked to the top of a hill to get a good view of the ocean.

Next we drove to St. John's which was pretty with the brightly coloured houses, harbor views and artsy shops. Andrew drove us down some very narrow little streets lined with old houses along the harbor and then George street. We got out and walked along Water Street which was one of the main roads in St. Johns full of little shops and restaurants. Also in St. Johns we visited Signal Hill, a historic site with an old signal tower and sweeping views of the city and Atlantic ocean.

View of St. John's from Signal Hill

Signal Tower

View of Atlantic Ocean from Signal Hill

Before heading back we made a stop at the mall so we could go shopping at 'the Newfie Store.' We picked up some postcards, a Newfoundland bumper sticker and a moose bottle opener. We did some more wandering in the mall and then went out for lunch at a Newfoundland chain called Jungle Jims, a restaurant  filled with jungle memorabilia and bamboo. After lunch Andrew drove us back through all the small towns to Upper Island Cove and along the way showed us North River where Tarra used to live. Later they took us down the road to a friends house where we went drinking in the "shed"-a heated garage. We had a grande old time and even tried moose meat for the first time!

The Girls

On Tuesday we had a late breakfast before checking out some more local spots. They took us to Cupids which was the first European settlement and Briggus where we walked through an old tunnel leading to a nice view of the ocean and then visited a quiet little spot along the shore where we sat on the rocks for a bit. After, we got custard cones and then visited a spot in Harbor Grace with a big old steamboat trapped in the harbor, and on land an old airplane 'the Spirit of Harbor Grace' sits with a statue of Amelia Earhart. Once back home we had a huge Newfoundland supper with Andrew, Tarra, Andrews parents and grandma. The meal consisted of salt beef, turkey, potatoes, carrots, turnips, cabbage, beets, pea spread, blueberry pudding, stuffing and gravy followed by a huge slice of pie. It was delicious and very filling!

Tunnel

View from end of tunnel

Andrew and Tarra

Rocky Spot

Old Boat

Today we had a relaxing morning playing school with Andrews niece before being fed moose burgers and potato salad. We said our goodbyes this afternoon and started the long drive back to the west side of the island. We had a fantastic stay, and feel like we got the best Newfoundland experience that we could ask for. Thank you to Andrew, Tarra, Aubrey, Karen, Julie, Olive and everyone else we met who all made us feel welcome and at home!

We are staying in Gander tonight. Shortly after we started the drive the weather cleared up and we had blue skies and sunshine. We only made one stop before Gander and it was to walk along a river just off the highway.

Newfoundland

We had a good trip over to Newfoundland on the ferry, although it was a bit foggy. The ride was about 6.5 hours on a very comfortable ferry complete with TVs, a restaraunt, a bar, reclining chairs and all the other ferry amenities that we are used to. When the boat got in we drove to Corner Brook where we stayed the night. During the drive there we saw about 9 moose!

The next morning we continued the drive to Upper Island Cove where Andrew, Mikes friend from work lives. We have been staying with Andrew and his family for the past few days now and have been having a great time. Andrew and his girlfriend Tarra have been excellent tour guides showing us all the local sites. I'll add some pictures and go into more detail about what we have been up to the last couple of days in a later post.

Sydney, Nova Scotia

 The Cabot Trail...

The scenery was very pretty but was similar to areas in BC and on Vancouver Island so was nothing new to us. Although, we did see another moose! It took us about 5 hours to drive and the van did not have a good time...especially when we took it over that jump...

We got to Sydney around 7 and stopped at the Walmart for the night. Here, we met another couple from BC traveling across Canada in their camper van with bikes on the back! That was pretty exciting since the last time we met people from BC was in eastern Ontario. Last night was also the end to our good weather streak. It poured last night and today we are back in pants and sweaters.

Today we are just hanging out in Sydney and tomorrow we have a reservation for the 11:45am ferry to Newfoundland. The ferry ride is supposed to be 6-8 hours and we are not allowed on the vehicle deck at all!

Antigonish, Nova Scotia

Had a good night in P.E.I and a nice walk in town again today. We mailed some postcards and as soon as Mike dropped them in the box I realized I forgot to write the address on a special requested one from Toronto...much to my dismay they could not retrieve it so the best I could do was buy an Ottawa postcard (this post office had post cards for all of Canada...except Toronto) to try sending again, this time with the address.

On our way to the Confederation Bridge we stopped at Cows Creamery, an ice cream place. It was super crowded with a bus load of "breast cancer supporters" who drove in on their MASSIVE extended bus pumping diesel fumes into the environment who kept cutting in front of us in line (thanks a lot!) but when we finally (can you tell we were very bitter about having to wait this long for our ice cream?) did get our ice cream it was soo tasty! I had a peanut butter ice cream with toffee swirls and mini peanut butter cups and Mike had a strawberry one made with fresh island strawberries. Mmmm...

Two thumbs up!

After ice cream, we drove to Antigonish, Nova Scotia where we are spending the night. Tomorrow we have plans to visit Cape Breton and drive the Cabot Trail. Looking forward to a good picture day! And not long until we are in Newfoundland!

Moncton to Charlottletown

We had a nice stop in Moncton where we met up with John and Cheryl who took us out for dinner and kindly let us use their shower. John even took us out for a drive in his 1968 Dodge Dart. (Now Mike wants to get home and drive his!) Had such a great visit!

John, Cheryl, Mike, Carmen

We spent the night in Moncton then started the drive to P.E.I. Shortly in we decided to stop in Shediac to check out their famous Parlee Beach. It was a very beautiful, sandy beach and a gorgeous day so we settled in on the sand to do some sun tanning and reading in the sun. Unfortunately, it was very windy! Not sure if its normally that windy there but getting sand blown in our faces wasn't fun so we only stayed for about a half hour. While in Shediac we made tasty vegetarian gyros for lunch before continuing to P.E.I. The drive to the island was a lot of fun for us because we got to drive over Canada's longest bridge before driving around the red island. We stopped at a beach to pick up some red sand then drove on to Charlottetown.

Bridge to P.E.I

P.E.I.

Red Sand Beach

In Charlottetown we took a nice walk through town to see the historic buildings and walked a short ways along the boardwalk as well. It was after 7 so all the shops were closed so we will go for another walk in the morning as there are lots of little art galleries and unique gift shops to check out. It is almost 11pm now, just had dinner and are settled in for the night at a Michaels Craft Store.

Boardwalk

Fredericton, New Brunswick

Last night we stayed in Edmundston, New Brunswick, a small industrial town with not much to offer for the tourist so we were off again after a good nights sleep. We drove for 3 or more hours along the Trans Canada to Fredericton where we are now. Unfortunately that stretch of highway was probably one of the least scenic areas we have driven only because it stayed the same for the whole drive, except for the occasional river. Once we arrived in Fredericton we immediately liked it. It was a welcome change being in a small town from the big cities we were in over the past 4 days. Even though this is the capital of New Brunswick it is quiet, beautiful and easy to navigate, whether on foot, bicycle or driving. With plans on spending the night here, we spent the afternoon biking around town and along the waterfront with one pit stop on the grassy river bank to enjoy the sunshine. Our only complaint has been that most stores (including Sobeys and Walmart) close at 5pm on Sundays!

On the agenda for the rest of the night: a walk along the waterfront, making muffins, scrapbooking and a movie before bed. Tomorrow we will stop in Moncton and then on to PEI.

Toronto to New Brunswick

Sorry for the lack of posting lately, sometimes I'm just having too much fun and forget to post! So let's see what we have been up to since leaving Niagara Falls...(by the way, fan belt is fixed, we were on the road again the next morning)

So, Toronto went very well. Somehow Mike was able to drive and park us very near the CN Tower so we just had a short 5 minute walk to get to it. The CN Tower stands at an astounding 553.33 meters tall overlooking Toronto. The lookout level, which we visited, was located 346 meters up the tower which you can ride to in a glass elevator. The picture below was taken from this level. We also paid a little extra to go up to 447 meters in the skypod. It was neat to see the city laid out before us like toys. We also could keep an eye on our van where we left it! Other features in the tower included a glass floor, outdoor terrace and a fancy restaurant. We were pretty hungry after the tower so we bought hot dogs from a street vendor outside of Rogers Stadium where we sat and watched the Blue Jays fans start to swarm in for the upcoming game. It was fun being in the big city but eventually it came time to leave which went equally as well as coming in, although a little slower.

CN Tower

We started to drive to Kingston, but as you know, had some complications with the van so had to spend the night elsewhere. It didn't take long for Mike to fix the problem in the morning when he was able to get the right part so we were soon off again. That afternoon we went out for lunch with Jason, one of Mikes work buddies, at a small sports bar. We had a nice visit, just sorry we couldn't make it the night before for a longer one. Afterwards, we drove through the military area of town where they have a base and military college then back to the highway.

From Kingston we made our way to Gatineau, Quebec where we would be staying with new friends Mike and Nathalie. Upon arrival we were fed pizza, salad, beer and cider before doing laundry, playing cards and swapping favourite music. The next day Mike and I drove to Ottawa to check out Parliament Hill and then walked over the bridge back into Quebec to see the Canadian Museum of Civilization. We decided to just go through one exhibit, the Canadian Hall, a life like walk-through about Canada's history from the east coast to west coast. Lots of information about fur trading, whale hunting, oil drilling, etc. All that walking had worked up an appetite so we went to Nathalie's for burgers, salad and tasty guacamole. After dinner the two Mikes spent the rest of the night fixing the oil leak on the van at Mikes shop. Here, Mike (Quebec Mike) also applied some new decals to our van!

Us at Parliament Hill

Parliament building

Scene at the museum

Us with Mike (and new decal!)

Yesterday we left from Mikes shop where we had left the van the night before, said our goodbyes and were off once again! Thank you Mike and Nathalie for welcoming us into both your homes! We drove a couple of hours to Montreal but decided not to stop because they had a crazy road system so just drove through to Quebec City. We got there late and hungry so found a 24 hour fast food joint and bought poutine for dinner. Yum!

This morning we drove closer to the old city, parked, and walked through the historic wall built around the old city. We spent a good few hours wandering around checking out the sights. We had breakfast in a quaint little restaurant, L'Omelette, where I had pancakes and Mike had his usual when we go out: eggs, toast, bacon and hash browns. We spent the rest of the time wandering along the edge of the wall lined with old canons, enjoyed views of the city from atop the wall, found some quirky shops and watched street performers.

Busy street

On our way now to New Brunswick.